Dinner with an Angel

Last night I had dinner with this lovely lady, her sister from England, and another friend Mindy. We went to a seafood restaurant on the Upper West Side, not too far from the convent.

I just have this need to say out loud, "I adore this woman!" She is well into her eighties and suffering all the accompanying indignities, but what affects her body never seems to touch her soul. She'll tell me that her eye sight is going or that she's got chronic neck pain, that she can't get around like she used to or read as voraciously as she's accustomed to, but it’s with a peace and acceptance that leaves me awed somehow.

I actually met with her last year so that I could ask her how she became such a person of grace. Life is hard for everyone and we all carry the marks, but I’m intrigued by the differences between those of us who become disillusioned and even possibly bitter and those who carry on with a peace, humility, and grace that is easily seen but hard to define. You know what she told me? “It’s living in community.”

Makes me think of the message I heard last Saturday about generosity. He wasn’t talking about money, but rather about living with a reckless kind of giving. Maybe the people to whom we listen and give attention, who we love, support, walk with, encourage, teach, assist, admire, are those that will make up our communities where grace happens and we are transformed by the pouring out of ourselves. I like the idea.

Thank you Sister Mary Christabel for marking my life with your love!