These days, whenever something
horrendous and traumatic happens in the world, I wonder what it must be like to
be old. To have seen so many catastrophes-wars, tsunamis, terrorist
attacks, cancer, spinal cord injuries, mudslides-and still remain adequately
composed to make the bed every morning and buy groceries. I remind myself
a little bit of Mike Kyle, a middle-aged man with an intellectual
disability. I met Mike at a relatively Christian summer camp. He
always volunteered to say grace. Without fail, his grace was full of deep
and impossible existential questions for God.
"God, how did you make the world? You're so big and so nice and I just don't understand. And Todd drives me nuts. I wish he didn't, but he does. And God, I don't know what to do...."
On a couple of occasions, at the breakfast table, or on the dock, where I served as a lifeguard, Mike would peer at me with scrunched up eyes and utter bewilderment. Earnestly he'd ask, "Erica. How do you get through your day-to-day life?" At the time, I was only seventeen. I probably smiled and thought, what a sweet man. Perhaps I offered an answer, but certainly it wouldn't have satisfied Mike's concern and curiosity. "I don't know, Mike. I just do. It's just one of those things."
Mike Kyle died four or five years ago. He was brushing his teeth. Either he choked on his toothbrush or part of his toast from breakfast. Another tragedy to add to the tsunamis and the spinal cord injuries. I'm certain he would have been devastated to hear about the earthquake in Japan. "But why, God? Why?"
I don't know, Mike. It's just one of those things. But it's hard to get through our day-to-day lives, isn't it?
Peace to the world on this difficult day.
The End.
"God, how did you make the world? You're so big and so nice and I just don't understand. And Todd drives me nuts. I wish he didn't, but he does. And God, I don't know what to do...."
On a couple of occasions, at the breakfast table, or on the dock, where I served as a lifeguard, Mike would peer at me with scrunched up eyes and utter bewilderment. Earnestly he'd ask, "Erica. How do you get through your day-to-day life?" At the time, I was only seventeen. I probably smiled and thought, what a sweet man. Perhaps I offered an answer, but certainly it wouldn't have satisfied Mike's concern and curiosity. "I don't know, Mike. I just do. It's just one of those things."
Mike Kyle died four or five years ago. He was brushing his teeth. Either he choked on his toothbrush or part of his toast from breakfast. Another tragedy to add to the tsunamis and the spinal cord injuries. I'm certain he would have been devastated to hear about the earthquake in Japan. "But why, God? Why?"
I don't know, Mike. It's just one of those things. But it's hard to get through our day-to-day lives, isn't it?
Peace to the world on this difficult day.
The End.
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| Ajanta Caves, India, December 2015 Exuberant Bodhisattva on Facebook Twitter: @mypelvicfloor I Let Go, by Erica J. Schmidt My Life's Purpose What People Really Need How I Am Old |
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