The Homeless Man Who Disappeared

Back in the 80's, I had an experience in which I will never forget. My husband had to drop off something in downtown Seattle, and I went along for the ride, as it was a beautiful, sunny day.

Parking is hard to find on the streets of Seattle, but we were very lucky to find a spot right in front of the building where the drop off occurred. My husband put money in the meter, and I waited in the car while he ran his errand.

While waiting, with my window rolled up, an elderly homeless man approached my car holding a book. I could tell by his unkept clothing and long uncombed hair that he lived on the streets, but he had a very kind look, and so I rolled my window down and said "Hi" to him. He asked me if I could read something to him from the book he held, which turned out to be the Bible, as I glanced at it. I said that I would because I could see that his pupils were glazed over, because he probably had cataracts.

He handed the book to me, already opened to the page he wanted me to read, which turned out to be from the chapter of Psalms. I don't remember the chapter, however, but oh how I wish I did. I then began reading to him.

My husband returned to the car fairly quickly, while I was still reading. Another person in a car saw that he had returned and wanted the sought-after parking space. My husband said we had to go, but I said that I was going to finish reading the page to the man. The car honked, which caused my husband some anxiety, but I told him again that I was going to finish, of which I did.

I handed the Bible back to the man, and he thanked me and turned away. We pulled out from the parking spot, and as I turned back to look at the man again, he was gone. He was nowhere to be seen, and there was nowhere for him to have gone. I kept looking and looking for the homeless man, before we turned the corner, but he had vanished into thin air.

At that moment, I knew God had presented me with a test. I felt it in my very soul. The homeless man was an agent of God, or maybe even God Himself, and He wanted to see if I would take a moment of my time to help an old, almost blind man, learn about the Bible. I'm so glad I did and am forever in debt to the kind, old man who changed me forever.