I had a dream.
In my dream, I found myself walking down an old cobblestone street. There were buildings on both sides, nearly two stories high. It reminded me of something that you would see while reading a novel by Charles Dickens set somewhere in old Europe.
It was cold outside, so everyone was scurrying about a little bit faster than what you would consider a normal walk.
As I proceeded down the street, it opened up to what appeared to be some type of town square. It was a big open space with several streets intersecting in the same area. It was wide and open, and somewhat circular in design.
I stopped for a moment to watch people passing through.
It was at that time that I noticed a peculiar old man standing on the street corner opposite me. He was trying to hand something to people passing by. From my observation, he wasn’t successful in getting anyone to take the paper he was handing out.
He had a hood partially over his head and a long coat that ran the length of his body, which appeared somewhat ragged and old, with a pair of gloves to protect him from the wind, as it was chilly.
I remember watching as many individuals looked at him, then quickly scurried away, while he beckoned them to come over and accept the item he was trying to hand out. I watched a younger couple come out of one of the nearby buildings. They were both wearing exceedingly fine dress. The woman had a fur-lined coat. Her hands nestled snugly inside a matching fur-lined muff. The man wore a nicely pressed suit and a black top hat. As the old man turned in their direction, the woman quickly grabbed her husband by the arm and pulled him away.
No one would stop. Not one… until me. Something about this man was curious, and I felt drawn to him. He was different. He seemed kind and humble. “Who would stand out this long in the cold and hand out what I thought was a leaflet?” I thought.
What was he doing? I approached him…
As soon as I came up to him, he slowly opened his hand so that I could see what he was holding. My eyes were led right to it. It wasn’t a leaflet; it was a beautiful ticket. It looked old, scripted like one that you would receive if you were commissioned to attend a grand ball from a king. It reminded me of the story of Cinderella, in which the King invited everyone in the kingdom to a grand banquet.
He said that he was offering them to anyone for free. The price had already been paid, and all that anyone needed to do was to take one and come.
Inside my heart, I knew that I certainly wanted a ticket.
And in my thoughts, I wondered, “Why wouldn’t anyone take a free ticket?” He wasn’t asking for money… he said that the price had already been paid, but certainly, there wasn’t anyone willing to take one.
At that moment, the man looked up at me with what appeared to be piercing blue eyes and said, “You can hand out tickets, too, if you’d like?” He held out his hand as if to give me some so that I could assist him.
Then my understanding was opened. And I woke up with this running through my head…
(The King then said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore, go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.)