It was a hot day but many were still making their way to the Temple for the afternoon prayer. Bob called out to his friends Tod and Rod, “Hey dudes, could you please take me to the entrance now? Need to get to work.”

“Sure thing, Bob!” Rod replied as he gestured to Tod to give him a hand. They hoisted Bob from the floor onto the homemade stretcher.

Since birth, Bob could not use both his legs, which were contorted. “Birth defect”, the midwife told his weeping mother. Thus, ever since he knew how to put on a “10sen face” (innocent expression), he had been begging.

The Temple entrances were one of Bob’s favourite places to beg because pious Jews who walked by were usually very generous.

“Take me to the Beautiful Gate, boys. The shade’s better there this time of the day and it’s one of the busier entrances,” Bob instructed his kind friends.

Rod grabbed one end of the stretcher – simply made with two poles sticking through the sides of a tarpaulin – while Tod grabbed the other end.

As they weaved in and out of the crowded streets, many familiar faces turned and waved to the trio. They were the street vendors who had known Bob since he was a child.

“Hey Bob! Come by for some tea afterwards, OK?” Hunter the drink vendor hollered. “Rod, Tod, you guys come have some too.”

“Sure thing, Hunter!” Tod shouted back.

Strangers were staring at them…well, at Bob mostly. Two men carrying a grown one on a stretcher must be a sight to behold. How Bob wished he had full use of his legs. He could walk right up to Hunter’s stall for that drink; stand by the stall and people watch as he sip his tea. After that, he could sashay away without drawing any unwanted attention to himself.

How he wished he was normal…like those two guys they just passed. They were laughing heartily as they strolled towards the Temple.

Bob meets the men

“OK Bob, we’ll let you do your thing and come back at the usual time. Three-twenty, right?” Tod asked as he and Rod gently set him down.

“Yeah, thanks guys. Later,” Bob replied non-committally as he leaned against the wall, trying to make himself comfortable.

“Hey, cheer up Bob,” Tod said before leaving. “See those two laughing hyenas there? They are in a good mood. I bet they’d be generous today,” he added while pointing to the two men Bob noticed earlier.

Tod and Rod waved a quick goodbye before disappearing into the crowded street. Bob hoped Tod was right. The pair seemed to be in a cheerful mood and they were even smiling at Bob when they approached the entrance.

Bob took the opportunity to say, “Spare some change for a lame man, sir?” while stretching out his palm. His first client of the day, whoo hoo!

The man nearest to Bob had boyish good looks and was looking at him intently; his brown eyes sparkled like crystals in the afternoon light. The other one, who was a little behind the first man, was also looking at Bob with his clear grey eyes. Great, they were staring, so what’s new?

Feeling a little self conscious, Bob looked down at his deformed legs.

Bob gets his wish

“Look at us!” said the brown-eyed man.

Bob quickly looked up, his awkwardness momentarily forgotten in eager hopes of a generous donation.

“Silver or gold I do not have,” the man said in an assured voice. Bob frowned. “But what I have I give you.”

Bob sniggered. What else could be better than silver and gold? These two were not only happy, they were downright loony!

The man continued: “By the authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

Bob erupted in laughter and shook his head. What suckers. He knew this Jesus Christ character and had seen him walk past a couple of times even. He was a great man and his followers – like these two obviously were – proclaimed him to be the Messiah. But not everyone agreed, including Bob.

The man was now trying to get Bob to stand up by taking his right hand. Whoa, this guy really believed this shit, huh? Bob glanced at his legs – still contorted at that weird angle – he sure ain’t doing no walking today.

But the man was insistent. Reluctantly, and with a desire to prove the man wrong, Bob tried to rise and as he did, his feet and ankle bones were straightened and strengthened!

“My God! I’m standin’!!” Bob cried in horror. He tried to jump…and easily landed on his feet without collapsing. He stood rooted to the spot for a while, taking in the new perspective of his surroundings.

Eventually, his eyes fell on the two men, who were beaming. Bob tried to walk and was speechless when he started to move on his own. The guy was right, this was definitely better than silver or gold!

Turning to the two men, Bob said: “I am Bob the Beggar! Thank you, sirs! Who are you?”

“I’m Peter,” the brown-eyed one replied. “And this here is John. How’d you like to break routine and come join us in the Temple for prayer this afternoon?”

He didn’t need to be asked twice. Bob not only walked, but he leapt and praised Jesus as he marched into the Temple with Peter and John.

People at the courtyard stared at him but this time, he welcomed the attention. In fact, for the first time in his life, Bob wanted strangers to stare at him. He was walking for goodness sakes!

Some people recognised him as one of the crippled Temple beggars and the news spread like wildfire on a windy day. Soon, a crowd formed at Solomon’s Colonnade – the covered porch that led into the Temple.

People were jostling and elbowing each other to catch a glimpse of the walking cripple, who was now holding on tightly to his new acquaintances. Everyone wanted to see a walking, breathing, living miracle…and Bob didn’t mind one bit.

Originally published on Dec 6, 2006

The Sea of Galilee was exceptionally calm, I didn’t know why. Its luminescent waters stretched out into the horizon like smooth silk. Was this the calm before a storm? Freak storms were known to hit the Galilee, catching many seasoned seamen unaware.

I climbed into the fishing boat behind the other 12 men. The Teacher told us that he was going to take a nap. The rest of us prepared the boat for the journey across the Galilee. Six of my friends settled beside the oars and started rowing since there wasn’t any wind to catch the sails.

The other six, including me, lounged about onboard. Matt looked at me and said: “Yo Petey, you guys take the next shift OK? We’ll row out to the middle of the Galilee and then you guys take over…unless there’s a favourable wind to speed up our journey.”

“No probs, bro,” I replied as I cast my eyes to the horizon while silently praying for wind.

My prayer was answered in the weirdest possible way.

Suddenly, out of the surrounding western mountains, a storm moved in rapidly. Too rapidly.

The boat started to rock violently as the wind blew and something hit the boat hard, tipping it to one side. The impact caused me to lose balance and the next thing I knew, I was hanging precariously over the deck. The howl of the ferocious wind followed. It was deafening.

“Gotcha, Petey! Don’t be trying any of your fancy diving stunts today,” bellowed John as he grabbed hold of my tunic and yanked me to safety.

I regained my balance and noticed that all my friends have stopped rowing and were frantically scooping water out of the boat. They weren’t making much progress though, because you couldn’t actually do much with bare hands.

Then suddenly, in the distance and rapidly rushing towards us was a 10-foot wave. “Grab something, grab something!” I cried.

“Here comes another one!” Judas warned.

As soon as I hugged a nearby pole, the wave came crashing down on us like a waterfall. We were drenched but all accounted for and alive. The boat withstood the abuse. But that wasn’t the end of it as another five-footer rushed at us and mercilessly crashed into us. The boat creaked in protest.

We panicked.

“Get the Teacher, the Teacher,” Bart shouted. “Where is he?”

“Over here, in the corner!” Thomas shouted back from the other end of the boat as another wave pummeled us. “Oh no, he’s SLEEPING!! How can anyone sleep through this?”

I ran over to where the Teacher was, knelt and shook him with all my might. “Wake up, Teacher, wake up!! We’re all going to die! Freak storm! Big waves! Strong winds! Wrong prayer! Help!”

The Teacher opened an eye and looked at me, puzzled. Thomas impatiently pushed me aside and said: “Lord save us! We’re going to drown!”

Teacher didn’t move a muscle, and by the time he reacted, another wave crashed onto the ship, drenching both Thomas and I.

Teacher let out a sigh before saying, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!”

Then he got up (rather reluctantly, I might add), faced the elements and thundered: “Be gone! Such insolence! Calm your fury, I say!”

I personally thought he was crazy. Then I looked at Thomas out of the corner of my eye and discovered I was not the only one who thought Teacher had lost it.

But you’ll never guess what happened next. Suddenly, everything was completely calm again.

Teacher turned back to Thomas and I, winked at our baffled expressions, patted us on our backs and returned quietly to his corner.

Our friends were shocked as well. Andrew turned to Philip mid-scoop and asked: “What just happened?”

And James turned to Simon and said: “What kind of man is this?”

“Yeah, bro” Simon replied while scratching his head, “even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Originally published on Nov 8, 2006.