THE 198 YEAR-OLD MAN
Abraham, sitting at his tent door, welcomes a traveler bowed with age.
After feeding the man, Abraham asks him to bless the āMost High Godā.
The man refuses, revealing that he worships a different god.
Enraged, Abraham casts the man out into the wilderness.
At midnight, God asks Abraham where the stranger is.
After hearing what happened, God rebukes Abraham, asking,
āHave I borne with him these
hundred ninety and eight years, and nourished him, and cloathed him, notwithstanding his rebellion against me, and couldst not thou, that art thyself a sinner, bear with him one night?ā.
Filled with remorse, Abraham searches for the man, finds him, and brings him back to his tent. The next day, he sends the
man away with gifts.
~Benjamin Franklin