The Three Wise Ones

I am grateful for the  gifts we enjoy and take for granted that of Health,  Family, livelihood, friends amongst  a long list.

This  year  in   matter of  a few weeks  between August and October 2019, I met  three persons and each of them made me reflect  and think about the blessings I have.

As a respect to their  privacy I shall not  disclose their  names  but perhaps since you may know  my  common friends  and could  figure them out, in which  case do say a prayer for them.

Edith  turned 91 recently and had expressed a desire to meet me.  I thought it was  special as I am of her many acquaintances and yet she chose me.   Edith, a spinster,   has been home bound since the last  few years due to various health  issues including the big C.  She also  experiences severe  pain in her arms almost every day. Even her food intake is restricted due to age. I managed to meet her the next  day after her birthday.  The  one room apartment  had many beautiful  flowers from the previous day. We just  sat and spoke to each other.  She was aware of Donald Trump and the state of our nation. Her mental agility was remarkable. Edith was a regular at the large cathedral  we used to attend as well. What struck me was however that even though she is unable to attend the  church services she keeps a portion of her offerings for each  week, including the special services she  misses.  Even though Edith  is in great pain,  her view was since she is alive, her life must be purposive. Her knowledge of  the Bible was amazing as Edith could  connect various promises of Jesus to her context.  I was also grateful she trusted me enough to disclose plans after her passing away.

Prior to any important event or  a  travel I rush to my barber  Karim, to trim my hair and beard. Karim who is about in his early forties has always been polite and professional and would not  speak unless spoken to.   We got speaking  this time  as I asked Karim how things were.  He narrated that it was only  4 months since he lost his wife to an illness.  He has two children and he has to balance  between taking care of his children and managing his earnings. There was a tinge of grief in Karim’s  voice but yet,  the “ here and now “ is important.  Perhaps he would not have  told me had I not asked him.

I met my classmate from  college Sahil after almost 4 decades  after we graduated. We are of the same age. Some one  told me that he was he had a physical ailment  but I did not  think there could be any but that thought lingered and I did not  wish to believe it. I was visiting Mumbai as Sahil lives there  and told him  where I would be staying. Sahil immediately  said lets catch up and said he would come to meet me.  I was secretly happy as I thought  I heard wrongly about  his physical condition and when we met that evening nothing seemed apparent.   As classmates do,  we caught up about  old times and  what we  did after college we also discovered  common friends in each of our life’s journey. Sahil was the eldest of two sons in his family.  After a while the dialogue was about the  family and I learnt that  he lost his wife about 20 years ago and did not  remarry.  As we spoke he also told me that he lost his parents  and younger brother  over the last  few years.  Then taking courage I asked him about his health, when  he said  “ Yes Emmy, I have had minor health issue, due to Diabetes one of my foot has been amputated from the ankle” I did not know where to  look. Sahil had a resolute  smile and for him this was no setback.  In  fact he is a CEO  in a niche Logistics MNC and despite all his personal  setbacks he has been able to  turnaround  a loss making  India operations to become profitable and reliable, so much so that  his principals have asked him to  continue in this role and he does international travel as well. 

I treasure  the meetings with  Edith, Karim and Sahil and  claim my Christmas Gifts from those interactions.  For me the  these  Gifts  are  gratitude, resilience, and purpose. I suppose each of us  may  take away much from these narratives. In fact  I am grateful for the  gifts we enjoy and take for granted that of Health,  Family, livelihood, friends amongst  a long list. Wish you a very happy Christmas and a Blessed 2020.