IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS

In everything  give thanks…                                                                                                                       

She ran towards me with open arms and hugged me. A very lovely girl, I thought…Then I saw her face…It was one you could never help but notice. She had one eye.  The bad one bulged out and there was a thin layer of tissue covering it. Such a lovely girl I thought again. “What is your name?” I really wanted to get to know her. But she ran away immediately. She left as fast as she came to join the rest all lying or seated on the colourful mats. They were said to be those who could walk or at least move from the rest.

Was it that my very adventurous soul was seeking a time to let loose and do a different thing? Or had I so merge my being in sheer revelry from the last weekend celebration (Yes it was resurrection weekend, a time to ‘shop the life out’ of the mall). Had I so pursue the dainties and pleasurable things of this life that my soul was burdened by guilt and I so wanted a release?  Or maybe I was sober and chose to plunge myself deeper into this labyrinth of sobriety?

None of those was the answer. Like you, I’m one soul seeking to make a meaning out of this complex part of eternity called time by pursuing purpose. I had woken up that morning and had barely gotten emerged with the daily routine when my phone rang. I picked it. It was from a close person and she wanted to know if I would be free to do some shopping “Some shopping again?”  But not the kind of shopping you must be thinking. It was for a different purpose. It was for some kids in a hospice.

I immediately responded in the affirmative. According to my caller, she had been busy and had not had time to do the shopping nor to go and visit the kids. Well, yes. I wasn’t putting down the donations but I was going to do the shopping on her behalf. I was sowing my efforts at least though I wasn’t parting with any resources. The scriptures about David mighty men easily came to mind. How the men always divided equally the spoils from war either you stayed back to watch the goods left or you go into the battle field to swerve your sword. It was an ordinance laid down by the man after God’s heart himself. So, I was pleased to know that both the person putting down money and the one sowing the effort to get the supplies get the same reward.

…And I found myself with them. Those abandoned to either die by those who were supposed to show them love. It was then that the many flaws of filial love dawned on me. Most of these children were not orphans but were abandoned. I was told. Some were born crippled and many with Down’s syndrome. Some were autistic patients and there were several others I did not get to see their conditions because they could not move from their bed to the very clean open space left for them to play. Not that they did not want to move….

About eight of them crowded round me and wanted to touch me. I let them. I marveled at their curiosity. One pulled at my earings another at my clothe while several held my hand. “What’s your name?” I asked the girl with one eye. She did not answer. “Her name is Lolade” the nurse said. I asked several others the same question. Some answered, murmuring something incomprehensible, others did not reply at all.

A young boy rolled over to give me “Five”. They all looked excited to receive a visitor. “Sit down aunty” He kept saying. Every human sense in me sent a red light. “Germs are everywhere” a line from an advert screamed in my mind! –“Do not seat…” the reasoning part cautioned. I threw the reasoning caution to the wind and allowed myself glide on compassion. I had read it somewhere that hundreds of children die in orphanages yearly all over the world because of lack of touch. If there was anything I had in abundance to give this day, it would be love. And I did give it.

Let’s pray” I said. Let’s join our hands together. I stretched my hands to hold the closest beside me and was shocked she had a deformity. It must be congenital because she looked rather young. I held her all the same but can’t remember what I held. We prayed. We gave thanks.

Thanks. That was what overflowed in my hearts for these children. In all things give thanks. I was grateful. I looked at Lolade. She had one eye. There are many in this world without an eye, born blind. In all things give thanks. My heart was glad! These have life. And there is hope!  Many are dead. And even the dead are birthed into a living hope. They have peace and rest. It is only those banished from God’s presence forever that are without hope, life, peace nor rest. In all things give thanks” I muttered as I left them with a promise to visit again even if it would be to come and give them all a warm hug.

Teju duru is a freelance journalist.

2009