Story of a Soul

[Mengxia Yu]

Today, Bridgehead Thanksgiving Day, I have been reading "Story of a Soul", the journal of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower. (I am zipping right through it, too.) The whole text calls out to me, but I have just come across a passage that seems like it might be relevant to us right now. Here it is--I have only changed it to feminize the language.

"Suppose a clever physician's child meets with a stone in her path which causes her to fall and break a limb. Her mother comes to her immediately, picks her up lovingly, takes care of this hurt, using all the resources of her profession for this. Her child, completely cured, shows gratitude. This child is no doubt right in loving her mother! But I am going to make another comparison. The mother, knowing there is a stone in her child's way, hastens ahead of her and removes it but without anyone's seeing her do it. Certainly, this child, the object of her mother's tender foresight, but UNAWARE of the misfortune from which she was delivered by her, will not thank her and will love her less than if she had been cured by her. But if she should come to learn the danger from which she escaped, will she not love her mother more?"

Maybe this is what the Year of Sai Rhave is about. Last year, in the Year of Sai Sushuri, we built our family up. Now we are strong enough to take the stones in our path. Rather than removing them, Dea is letting us trip over them so that we will appreciate the danger she has kept from us until now. The attacks on the Embassy are now rather more offensive than they used to be, and our individual troubles are much worse. We must be steadfast!

[Jullianna Juliesse]

I am so glad you are reading this book, Meimei! I just knew it would resonnate with you. I wish you were about at the moment; I am feeling sad for some reason.