In Thy light

I lift my eyes to the hills-

From where will my help come ?

My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth .

Psalm 121:1&2

Our lives had become volatile .. We found it a struggle to keep up with the unpredictable changes..

The primary focus had shifted from my ailing mom to my son, who started having seizures all of a sudden . Expert medical advice was the need of the hour as the earlier prescriptions weren’t able to control the convulsions .

Those were the days of fervent prayer . Our enquiries finally led us to an expert neurologist known in international circles -someone who had published several papers on Epilepsy. But the hitch was that he was working with a reputed Government medical institute in the city , 200 kms away ..

in India , One usually avoids state run hospitals , if one can afford it . The long wait , the crowd and the tiresome procedure are all major dampeners . On the other hand hospitals run by professionals or corporates , though costlier,are friendlier and cleaner . This time expertise took precedence over comfort while making the decision.

After a drive of three hours , we found ourselves at the institute. The scene was much worse than we had dreaded ..There were people everywhere.. We joined a long serpentine queue for registration.From there to another queue to meet the junior doctor who took the case history and finally to the doctor whom we wanted to meet .. It took us six hours of wait for a very brief consultation.. These six hours there were moments of regret and confusion . Still we held on , nibbling the few biscuits that we had carried , afraid to step out of the queue lest we miss our chance .

However the Lord was with us . My son was unusually quiet and calm through all this and tolerated all the heat and hunger . We were amazed at his stoicism as we ourselves were exasperated at the end of that ordeal

During our drive back home , three tired souls sat in complete silence . I gazed at the twilight landscape broodingly .Was this ordeal worth the briefest consultation we have ever had ?Are these medications going to work ? Regular follow up would mean fewer visits to my ailing mother who knew nothing about the latest crisis in our lives . Jeff was very dear to her and I didn’t want her to add on to her worries .

I wasn’t sure anymore.. My soul reached out to my saviour. I needed to hear his voice more than ever . And there it was .. in the sky -God’s light – streams of golden light coming out of a patch of pink and green . Captivating display of divine light ..so beautiful that it belied any description..

Many times we have passed that way at twilight . But I had never seen anything like that before ! I took it as a sign of divine affirmation.

Many years have passed since that visit and we are still under the same Neurologist’s guidance .The briefest consultation proved to be the right one as the medication he prescribed , controlled his seizures .

For with you is the fountain of life ; in your light we see light .

Psalm 36:9

It also opened our eyes to the trials that the underprivileged poor has to go through . But we took comfort in the fact that expert treatment , often unavailable in a private hospital, was still within reach at a very nominal cost for the poorest of the poor .

More than anything, it made us appreciate the doctors who had chosen Government service over private hospitals despite the vast difference in the working conditions and the pay check . May God bless them !

And the king will answer them , “Truly I tell you, just as you did to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me ”

Matthew 25:40.