Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - April 15, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
In the course of otherwise routine surgery, Diana's husband Mike suffered a number of strokes. Recovery and return home took nearly 3 months. At his side or in the hospital all this time was Diana, from the beginning on December 10 until February 28, the first day she did not see Mike during this period.
Understandably her first reactions as written in the CaringBridge Journal were: "I was so angry and felt God was picking on us. . . ." But not for very long: “I decided we weren't being picked on at all, but rather chosen." This refrain continued through Mike’s paralysis and coma to mobility, crabbiness even and joking. Long before the end of this journey she was able to write: “God is good.”
“We have been taken down a path that is not of our choosing, but one that brings new opportunities each day. So many people tell me how they are praying and I know he is listening to them all. Mike has so many people that love and care for him, as do I and our family. Life is so good.”
“O, wonder!/ How many goodly creatures are there here!/ How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,/ That has such people in't!"
Miranda in Shakespeare's play The Tempest, Act V, scene 1.
As Mike prepared to return home, Diana wrote: "I have learned so much…. I realized how much God is with us – He is simply a prayer away. I am changed by this and from what I hear, others are as well. Some are praying for the first time in years.” The italics above express my amazed awe. It doesn’t take anything as serious as paralysis to unsettle my peace and trust! Diana gives us much to ponder.
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
