Marco was wandering about the city streets. He saw a church and on a whim he turned to visit and say a prayer for his journey.
The priest told him, "Do you know the tale of why our church is not persecuted by the Saracens here?"
Marco said,"It's against the law?"
The priest said, "It's always 'against the law'. But here it's really 'against the law'. Do you wish to know why?"
Marco asked, "Why?"
The preist said, "Long ago there was a poor cobbler. His faith was so great that he blinded himself lest his eye cause him to sin. One day the Caliph proclaimed that all Christians should be slain unless one of them could prove to him the words that if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed you shall move mountains.The poor cobbler prayed earnestly and so great was his faith, that behold! There was a great earthquake and the mountain far off started to collapse. Then the Caliph cried out in fear,"Stop, stop, I believe you."
Then the Priest asked, "Will you write down our tale that you may take it back with you?"
This is a very good article showing faith. The story about the cobbler making himself blind so he wouldn't sin is very powerful, but even more so is the fact that his strong faith brought about the earthquake that began the collapse of the mountain. This is truly a wonderful story to demonstrate faith.
