Under the Weather

Still under the weather.  

Illness demands that we stop and rest.  We can fight it, of course.  I know people who work through the flu and even major illnesses.  

A friend of mine lost her sister-in-law to cancer.  Despite relentless pain and repeated surgeries, the sister-in-law continued pastoring her small flock and even accompanied them on a trip to some far-off third-world country in Africa.  As though that weren't enough, the tribal leader they came to assist immediately took possession of her wheelchair, regarding it as a gift.  She let him have it and struggled on despite conditions I would not tolerate were I twenty and in top physical condition. Heroic?  I am stunned by her - stoicism, endurance, patience, holiness?   I don't even know what to call it.

I only know I don't have it.  Perhaps I'm weak, very probably self-indulgent, definitely older and tireder.  Whatever.  Even the debate is beyond me today.

I am reminded of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower.  In her short life as a Carmelite nun (she was only 24 at her death in 1897 of tuberculosis), she longed to serve God as a missionary, saving souls for God being the greatest work she could conceive.  Her health would not permit it, however.  If she could not do a 'great' work for God, she reasoned, then she would offer the small things of life - every word, every glance - for love.  It became known after her death as the Little Way.  St. Therese described her manner of prayer as a 'glance toward heaven,' and prayer doesn't get much simpler than that, does it.

St. Therese's 'little way' makes spirituality accessible to anyone, anywhere, in any circumstances.  What a comforting thought it is to know that God recognizes and understands the big and small trials we face daily, the frailties of human life, so that when framing a phrase or a blog post becomes the work of a day (or, in this case, the work of nearly five hours), a glance toward heaven suffices.