{"id":803,"date":"2010-06-21T18:57:27","date_gmt":"2010-06-21T18:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/roddreher\/2010\/06\/entertaining-angels-in-west-texas.html"},"modified":"2010-06-21T18:57:27","modified_gmt":"2010-06-21T18:57:27","slug":"entertaining-angels-in-west-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/roddreher\/2010\/06\/entertaining-angels-in-west-texas.html","title":{"rendered":"Entertaining angels in West Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"wtexas.jpg\"<\/span>
\nI’ve been sitting here at my mom and dad’s all afternoon working on a project for Ruthie. While I was busy, my folks got a visit from a neighbor, who came by to check on Ruthie. He must have stayed her an hour, talking. A story he told made me stop writing and listen.
\nHe said when he was a younger man, he was working in Midland, Texas, and would make the long drive home to see his folks in north Louisiana. His mom would send him home with several sandwiches, fruit and drinks for the 11-hour drive back to West Texas. On one of those return trips, he pulled over at a puny roadside table with a canopy, out in the middle of nowhere, west of Abilene.
\n“There wasn’t a soul to be seen anywhere,” he said. “No trees, nothing, as far as they eye could see. I was all alone, eating my lunch. Suddenly, a man was standing behind me, and asked, ‘Buddy, do you have something to eat?’ I said sure, and gave him a sandwich and fruit. I asked him if he needed a ride somewhere, and he said no, he didn’t need a ride. I turned and packed my things, and when I lifted my head, he was gone. I have no idea where he went. There were no other cars there, and no forest, no nothing.
\n“Ever since then,” the neighbor continued, “whenever anybody asks me for money, I don’t turn them down, no matter what. You never know. The Bible says sometimes we entertain angels unawares.”
\nAnything like that ever happened to you? Me, no.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been sitting here at my mom and dad’s all afternoon working on a project for Ruthie. While I was busy, my folks got a visit from a neighbor, who came by to check on Ruthie. He must have stayed her an hour, talking. A story he told made me stop writing and listen. He…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion"],"yoast_head":"\nEntertaining angels in West Texas - Rod Dreher<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/roddreher\/2010\/06\/entertaining-angels-in-west-texas.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Entertaining angels in West Texas - Rod Dreher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’ve been sitting here at my mom and dad’s all afternoon working on a project for Ruthie. 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