The closer I got, the more I accepted the reality that it wasn't African dance party but a protest. People need just wages --that's true-- and I appreciated that the workers were outside using their rights to voice injustice. But I still debated if it would be appropriate to bodily jam with that old paint pail beat.
I shared my lament with a passerby, a young woman with short hair and fluorescent gauges in her ears.
"Even in the chaos of the world, God has a plan," I told myself, but out loud to her.
"You gotta hope," she replied, to my delighted surprise.
It's the summertime and I don't have a routine schedule. I don't know where I'll live next month. My mind has listened to inner emotional strain and pain for many years. And I've been overwhelmed.
But...
That's not the end of the story, babe.
Today I saw my friend who was forced to resign from her job, yet even in her tears, she has hope that something good will come out of her loss. She's already prays for new life in her career.
Last week I met a woman whose husband, and father to their seven children, died a year ago. This woman comforts crack babies at a hospital as therapy for herself.
I also met a woman a month ago who is in her third marriage. She has been married to her current husband for 29 years. He supported them for decades through his air conditioner business that installed cooling systems in Houston attics, which heat up to 130°F.
And last night I listened to a speaker tell 700 people about her mother who has dementia. She had everyone laughing for more than an hour, and at the end was given a standing ovation. She found joy in the monotony and annoyance of life repeated, sometimes every 10 seconds.
There's incredible pain in the world. And even more miraculous hope--in Faith and perseverance. Thank you, Jesus, for the hope in these stories that gives me strength to know I'll be OK. 
No comments:
Post a Comment