Wednesday, November 9, 2011

On the mountain when Daniel recalled the village, he remembered poverty, despair, quarreling, and meanness. What three or four incidents show...

Several good things happen to Daniel when he moves back to the village that show that life there is not as terrible as he remembers it. First, Simon, his former fellow apprentice at the blacksmith shop, asks Daniel if he will take over his shop while his is away following Jesus. This is a tremendous boon to Daniel that solves his problem of how he will care for his sister, yet Simon makes sure Daniel doesn't feel like he is offering him charity. Daniel does not miss the gracious manner in which Simon extends the offer: "It was like Simon to make it sound like a favor!"


Next, when Daniel tries to move Leah into Simon's shop, he finds that Leah is too fearful to leave their childhood home. Out of the blue "an aged carpenter who lived a short way down the road" offers Daniel the perfect solution: a litter. His wife sewed cloaks together to make curtains so Leah could make the trip in complete privacy. Four men bear the litter with Leah inside it to their new home. Once again, Daniel is moved by the friendship he receives: "Why should they show such kindness to a stranger and an outcast?"


During the move, a neighbor boy carries the loom for him.


The townspeople bring their work to Daniel, and soon he is making a good living.


A servant of the woman who has bought Leah's cloth in the past appears, and Leah now has work to do. 


Finally, Daniel strikes up a friendship with Nathan, who becomes fiercely loyal to him. 


All these incidents show that village life is not the unpleasant drudgery that Daniel remembers it to be.

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