Asia

I live in a small community wedged in the middle of a poor neighbourhood. I clean in a hospital. I often visit 5 sick, old ladies. One is Muslim. She is single, blind and paralyzed. Two other women, both Buddhists, are also paralyzed. The last two are Christians. Both suffer from amnesia and are confused. They tell me what happened to them during the week and I tell them about my job as well as a bit about my life in the community and the neighbourhood. When I get up to go they say to me, “When you pray before the Lord, tell him the tale of our lives here.” Time is short but we are happy. Once, one of them said to me, “I used to live as though I were dead but now I know that I am alive.” It’s in the depths of those moments that I recognize the value of my vocation: “to be present”.