|| Christmas Special – A German folktale ||
One beautiful day, the Lord wanted to take a walk, and he took all of his apostles and saints with him, leaving only Saint Peter at home in heaven. Warning Saint Peter not to allow anyone into heaven while he was away, the Lord went ahead.
A tailor approached heaven and knocked at the gate. Saint Peter asked who was there and what he wanted.
The tailor said, “I am a tailor, and I very much wanted to get into heaven.”
Saint Peter said, “I am not allowed to let anyone enter and our Lord told me to be careful to not permit anyone inside while he is away.”
But the tailor continued his incessant begging, until finally Saint Peter gave in and allowed him to come in, but with the condition that he was to sit quietly and politely in a corner until the Lord returned, so that no one would notice him and get angry.
The tailor promised to do this. He sat down in a corner behind the door, but as soon as Saint Peter left, he got up and began walking from one corner of heaven to another, looking at everything.
Finally he came to some beautiful, expensive chairs surrounding a special chair set with many precious jewels. It stood much higher than the others. In front of it was a golden footstool. This was the chair where our Lord God sits when he is at home.
For a good while the tailor stood quietly before the chair, constantly looking at it, for he liked it better than any of the others. Finally he sat down on the chair. It was so comfortable.
Seated there he could look down on the earth and see everything that was happening there. He saw people go about their daily business, some taking the bus, some grabbing a coffee and some basking in the sun.
The world didn’t change much after he was gone!
He saw new borns crying and their tired mothers rocking them. He saw birds and squirrels on the trees. He saw sailors navigating the high seas and learned scholars navigating pages in libraries.
Among the many things, he saw an old woman who was stealing a hank of yarn from her neighbor.
This so angered the tailor that he picked up the golden footstool and threw it at the old woman down on earth. It missed her. “Well, anyway hell will find her”, he thought.
No longer able to reach the footstool, the tailor crept down from the chair and returned to his old corner, remaining there as if he had gone nowhere else.
When the Lord returned home he did not notice the tailor, but when he sat down in his chair he saw that the footstool was missing. He asked Saint Peter where his footstool was, and Saint Peter replied that he did not know.
“Who has been here? Did you allow anyone inside?” he asked further.
“I do not know of anyone who has been here, except for a tailor who is sitting over there behind the door.”
Then the Lord asked the tailor, “What did you do with my footstool? Have you seen it?” The Lord seemed quite angry.
The frightened tailor answered with fear and trembling, “I was sitting in your chair when I saw an old woman down on earth stealing a hank of yarn from her neighbor. I got angry that she was stealing, so I threw the footstool at her.”
The Lord laughed at the tailor’s words. He said, “If I had thrown some furniture at you every time that you cut off too much cloth and selfishly kept it for yourself, there would not be any chairs or benches left in heaven.”
The tailor felt embarrassed and asked for forgiveness. He was forgiven, but was asked to leave and earn his way back to heaven.
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