What Day Will Come?
As we witness the devastation in Haiti and political backlash in Massachusetts that makes meaningful health care reform ever more remote, I’ve been watching my landlady, Jeanne Krafft, fill our big house with medical supplies.
A nurse in Marin County who serves on the board of a hospital that was damaged in the quake, Jeanne quickly decided that she needed to go to Haiti. She’s a woman who knows how to sum up and take decisive action. It’s been impressive seeing her enlist the aid of dozens of friends who have showed up with supplies, carrying cases, and a willingness to sit for hours unpacking and repacking to make a dozen large, heavy cases conform to the airline’s requirements.
I myself, a minor player in this adventure, was enlisted to come up with trauma shears, a formidably named tool I had to look up on Wikipedia before feeling capable of dickering with our local medical supplies outlet.
As Jeanne prepares to leave at midnight tomorrow, I wonder what day will find her there, or whether she will land in what looks very much like perpetual night we see on the televised reports. In a way, she is bringing some daylight with her, repeating the descent into that chaos already performed by angels who are now on the ground making due with inadequate supplies or nothing at all.
Nothing but faith and perseverance.
These words came to me as I read a poem my friend May Brosseau of Southern California sent me this morning.
the day will come
when night is done
truth will be told
of young and old
time to despair
or life so fair
heaven or hell
tolls the death knell
yet all I care
is that you share
your Life with me
one you made free
may you be pleased
your heart be seized
with one so small
who heard your call
and offered love
for offered Love
This intimate poem addressed to Mary’s God holds a grounded vision of the world, including its horrors, and yet also affirms life and love and belief.
That is what Jeanne and others like her are doing, too, and all of us on our paths. May we not lose site of love and light as we dive into darkness to do what’s right.
You are definitely the real deal!
And you, Catarina, are very kind and generous. Thank you!
Robert