So, I’m sick again today. I’ve gotten sick more here in the last 3 months than I have in my entire life. However, I can’t help but be thankful during these times. First of all, I get to have empathy for the children here when they are sick. However, I also have several advantages, including a clean house, water, a sanitation system, people who check in on me (at least 5 who are doctors), and, oh, I’m a nurse. Last week I went out to a community that did not even have a water pump and the “well” they had was just a shallow hole in the ground with water that could not even be boiled clean. No wonder the children come in so frequently with horrible stomach parasites and worms.
The second reason I “like” getting sick is that those days I have to force myself to rest and sleep all day. I am constantly tired here from the constant activity from concentrating so much during and so many things to learn and remember each day.
The last reason, is that in the moments when I feel alert enough I do a lot of reading. A couple of weeks ago when I was sick I finished reading Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton and now I am reading Eat, Love, Pray by Elizabeth Gilbert Both show that the most unlikely of people can have the richest spiritual lives, that meditation is difficult but essential for actually listening to God, and when you are in confusion & it feels like your heart is breaking out of your chest, be patient. Only by being broken can we be made open to God and have peace. The least we can do, as Deacon Leo says, (and as you reminded me, Austin) is to just show up and leave the rest to God. He can’t do anything if we don’t give him the time to do so.
Today I also bought my plane ticket to go to Kenya next month. I will be visiting 3 other CMMB volunteers. It will be good to take a break, see what kind of work they are doing there, and be able to speak fast, slang-filled American English for 2 whole weeks! Speaking “special English” (slow & simple) gets wearing after awhile.
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