Mary is smoking cigarettes a very long time, she could never envisage life without them, they bring her happiness and joy in abundance. I would venture so far as to say that they are her raisin d’être.
Today, I surprised her with a visit, always best to just drop in. If Mary had prior knowledge, she would be so excited, my phone would not stop ringing all day, Mary wondering where I am. I’m under no illusion, yes she enjoys my visits, but my packet of cigarettes is the real treat. We chatted and laughed through the screen, seeing her so joyful, filled my heart with joy and gratitude to God. I knew in my deepest heart, I was gazing on the Beautiful Face of Jesus.
Mary got a raw deal for much of her life, she missed out on stuff we, her peers, availed of, but it is all the same now. Mary, said and led all her life, happy and content, a long road that knows no turning. She has no responsibilities, at seventy three years of age that suits her fine. Her every need is attended to and while she did not get the life she wanted, with the passage of time Mary has found peace.
All things come to those who wait and Mary has waited longer than most. She inspires me to persevere at all times, harbour no resentment ever, she teaches me forbearance. When she thanks me for the cigarettes I tell her it works both ways. After my recent illness she told me: ‘ I prayed for you down on my two knees’, deeply meaning every word.
Hard to put in words the effect people like Mary, who suffered so much, have on us, a soul experience that cannot be explained, it can only be felt way down deep in our hearts.
‘To behold beauty dignifies your life; it heals you and calls you out beyond the smallness of your own self-limitation, to experience new horizons. To experience beauty is to have your life enlarged. (Divine Beauty by John O’Donohue)
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