The Accidental Purist

After a brief medical errand this morning, I thought I'd take the impromptu opportunity (read: day off) to drop by the eye doctor and pick up a pair of glasses that had recently come in. They were kind enough to see me at noon despite my lack of an appointment, but I did have to wait a bit upon arrival before I was fitted with the new specs.

Two elderly women sat in the corner of waiting room across from where I was seated. They spoke openly to each other, and I was present. From their mouths came the most glorious things.

One woman's husband died from melanoma in 1973. He had a very good specialist at Jefferson, but the treatment just wasn't as good as it is today, she said. She took up with her sister for the three decades afterwards, and they had some wonderful times together until she herself passed away a few years ago. The woman misses her so much, but she knows that she is in a good place. She died quickly, 10 days after being admitted to the hospital for what sounded to me like the onset of a natural death. Towards the end she lost her ability to speak, and when her sister would speak to her she would simply look towards the sky and point up. The priest recounted this tale at the funeral mass and still today, the surviving sister is grateful to him for that.

She had her son at a late age, and he weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces. Her friend marvelled at this accomplishment in light of the woman's tiny stature. "Well, he did take a while," said the proud mama.

The other woman's grandchildren were twins, born four months premature. They each weighed under two pounds. They are now three years old and healthy. However, her heart is broken, because their parents are now divorced. She loves her daughter, of course, but also loves her son-in-law as her own and cannot understand why they were not able to stay together. She is convinced that it is the Devil's work. She hopes every day that they find a way to reconcile, so that she can have her family back.

The other woman told her to pray on it, because you never know.

They both bemoaned the state of things, wondering why people, especially the young, act as they do. One woman lamented that she hears "everybody's doing it" as the rationale behind the collective backsliding of a generation. "Oh?" She continued. "Did the Ten Commandments change? I didn't hear about it if they did, so I don't know how suddenly 'everybody's doing it.' I am sure He will deal with all of this in His own way when the time comes."

It was charming, bittersweet, humbling, and totally unexpected. Driving home, I realized that the experience, while a chance encounter, really came about as the result of two simple things:

Waiting.

Listening.