As we wait for the Fall 2010 issue to roll off the presses and into your homes and churches, here’s another sample from the upcoming issue. Enjoy!
The Tenth Leper’s Story
By Bill Luebcke
I miss my wife so much. And my children. I will never see them grow; I don’t know if they even remember me. It must be so hard for my wife. I pray the people of the village don’t take my condition out on her.
We used to be a happy family. We didn’t have much in our small village, but we had each other and life was good. Then one day I noticed a rash on my arm. It wouldn’t go away; it continued to spread. The priest said that I had leprosy. I had to leave my home and live in the garbage dump outside of town with others afflicted as I was. We had nothing. Some kind people would leave food for us, but it was never enough. And not being able to see my family made my life unbearable. I wanted to die.
One day we saw a lot of excitement in town and overheard someone say that Jesus was passing through the area. We had heard of Jesus and knew that he healed people. We decided that there was nothing to lose if we tried to meet Jesus and begged him to heal us. The villagers could stone us, but what would it matter: we were all but dead already…
Read the full article in the Fall 2010 issue of The Lutheran Digest
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