The Stranger – a family read-aloud for Christmas (28 pages)

Many times a story begins with a simple thought, a question, or an idea. So it is with The Stranger.

It’s been many years ago now, but I was once sitting in a Christmas Eve service when a thought came to me. What would happen if Jesus visited our little church or home on this night? But what if instead of appearing as an illustrated Bible character, he came unannounced…as a dirty, foul-smelling, homeless person?

Would I welcome him into my home or would I turn my head in hopes that he would go away? It’s a sobering thought, but one that I can’t quite push out of my mind. So I wrote this story to remind you that the dirty person you see begging on the street or standing at the highway intersection just might be…HIM.