Who would want to buy this? Instead of ... sidewalk, opening for another day of business. One of the men who had ... Tod
Spread the Word By Bonnie Rose Hudson Hugh stared at the newspaper in his hand. It was The New York Sun, September 3, 1833. Four thin pages of local news, crime reports, and help wanted advertisements. Who would want to buy this? Instead of taking his place on the corner, he hung back against the front of a produce shop, trying to blend in to the wall. Fear froze him to the spot. He knew what he was supposed to do, but he didn’t want to. His brother Tom had gotten them both jobs with Mr. Day, and this was their first morning on the job. The only reason Hugh had agreed to even look for a job was because he needed the money to go to seminary so he could study God’s Word and become a preacher. But who would pay a penny just to read the news? From his spot along the wall, he could see Tom across the busy intersection, waving his newspapers high above his head and calling out headlines to everyone who passed by. He wasn’t surprised at how naturally Tom took to the new job; Tom was always the adventurous one. What did surprise him, though, was how many people stopped, pulled a penny out of their pockets, and bought one of Tom’s papers. These weren’t the wealthy men who bought the regular publications; these were average men on their way to jobs working at markets, sweeping streets, unloading shipments of supplies. These were men who worked hard from dawn to dusk to feed their families and care for their children. Why would they pay money for a newspaper? The owners of the produce shop began hauling their crates of fruits and vegetables out onto the sidewalk, opening for another day of business. One of the men who had purchased a paper from Tom crossed the street at the corner and came down Hugh’s street. He read the paper as he walked, not paying any attention to where he was or where he was going. He passed Hugh and the produce shop and continued on his way for several yards when he suddenly stopped. With a shake of his head, he turned and walked back to the produce shop. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” the man said to the shop owner. “Every morning for ten years I’ve stopped here and bought an apple that I eat on the way to work. Every single day. Today, I’m so lost reading crime reports about people I don’t even know that I forgot to stop for breakfast!” A strange thought struck Hugh. The words in the newspaper had distracted the man from his own hunger. Tidbits and morsels had almost kept him from real food because they were shared in a way that made him feel connected to it. If the news could engage people so quickly, imagine how engaged they could be by the Word of God if someone shared it well. Hugh took a deep breath and walked to the street corner. He raised his arm high and yelled the headlines with every ounce of strength in him. Today, he would sell the news. One day, he would share the Good News. © 2014 Bonnie Rose Hudson www.writebonnierose.com
