Jimmy is blind. He's not a young man. Jimmy is homeless. He is quite ill. Jimmy tries to sleep as the Denver snow gathers on his body. He is vulnerable in a neighborhood where street gangs beat up and even kill transients.

James is brilliant. He has his Doctorate in engineering from a prestigious university in England. James loves classical music and once had dinner with the great composer Horowitz. He remembers calculations, historical dates and numbers with savant accuracy.

The local panhandlers say Jimmy is a scam, that he can see. With conviction they tell me that they've seen him driving around town in an old red station wagon. I throw out a quizzical look and they return with toothless grins, swearing up and down that it's true.

James and I sat together for dinner Tuesday night. He spoke of politics and I did my best to stay in the conversation. Quite frankly, he's just so much smarter than me. I get lost in James's intellect.

The irony is that Jimmy is James. James is Jimmy. No one knows for sure who he really is. To me he's a friend, a man whom I help up the stairs as he stumbles into the church for a hot meal every week. And the tales he tells keep us all intrigued.

One evening Jimmy shared a remarkably odd story with me. He needed to take the bus earlier that day and he struggled to get up the steps, pay his fee and find a seat. One of his arms is in a sling and he shuffles around using a walker. According to Jimmy, this and the blindness are all due to an untimely stroke. He found a seat at the front of the bus and rode quietly. Somewhere near him there was a child creating quite a commotion. Jimmy chalked it up to an undisciplined next generation and thought perhaps that the young boy who was slow of mind. The child's words were mixed and sometimes hard to understand. Jimmy didn't think much of it. But it continued. Finally a woman sitting next to Jimmy tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, that boy is staring at you…trying to talk to you." she said.

"Oh-" said Jimmy quickly, "I can't see, I couldn't tell. What does he want?"

"I'm not sure," she replied, "he is not quite right." The woman went on to tell him that the boy was looking at him wide-eyed.

"Hello." said Jimmy to the boy. He is a kind man. "How are you today?"

And the child leaned in, "Sir..." he whispered with wonder in his voice, "are you a man or a dragon?"

Jimmy smiled. He indeed is a man. The little boy made him happy and it was a great story to share at our weekly meal for the homeless. For a moment this lonely man forgot his exile and laughed. Later that night he ut it.

"Can you believe that?" he said, "The little fellow wanted to know if I was a dragon! Now I haven't seen a mirror for some time but I don't think it's that bad!"

"Indeed." I replied.

For some reason I love this story. I've thought about it a great deal in the weeks that have followed. What a fantastic phrase. Are you a man or a dragon? Are you like me or wholly other?

The whole thing leaves me speculating about another Man who put the wonder in people's eyes. Sort of the original dragon; powerful, creative and wise. God Himself. The critics analytically swear He's too ancient to be believed in, yet the changed know He's too mighty to be denied. It leaves the doubter in a dilemma. So what does the dragon do? He becomes a Man. He takes the fire-breathing, terror-filled reality and wraps it in skin, compassion and grace.

And the mighty dragon doesn't opt for a "man suit" that fits His heavenly caliber. He doesn't become a king or a statesman. He trades all that to be a peasant. Just like Jimmy, Jesus was a homeless man.

Jimmy… a dragon? No. He's a man. But what of Jesus - our redeemer? Dragon? Certainly. Full of might, fire, conviction and justice. And that same Dragon Redeemer became a Man, full of wonder, weakness and will. He turned this planet upside down. This became a world where the impossible was possible. A universe where there could be a dragon on the city bus.

And we're on the bus. Tracking through the traffic and patience gnawing construction zones of our lives. It's been a long journey. Generation after generation have climbed on and traveled through history. And somewhere between Eden and west Denver 2003 AD a new passenger boarded. Most barely looked up from their papers and morning coffee. We were too busy watching kingdoms rise and fall. Too caught up in our own worries and ambitions.

But it's the little boy, the boy we label "special needs" that immediately recognizes that something remarkable has just happened. So he asks. And on this road of life the Passenger roars out the reply. He is a dragon. He is a lion. He is the beginning. He is the end. And yes…for 33 years, he was a Man.

Can you believe that? A dragon on the city bus. Impossible? Maybe not. So try to wrap your weary brain around this one - the Creator of the universe alive and well in our hearts. And apparently, not as impossible as you might think.