A few years ago on a trip to Africa, we traveled to the highlands of Kenya to visit friars who had begun a new ministry. On the way, we passed a hillside on which women were picking tea. Bent over, they picked tea for hours and I wondered about their life and lifestyle. When I voiced my concern to the Kenya friar who was driving, he paused for a long while. Thinking he didn't hear me, I asked again about the women. Finally, he said they were like the bent over woman in the gospel. After years of picking tea their backs were so twisted, they could never again stand straight.
Shocked, I could not answer. In order to live, to eat, to feed their children, the women tea pickers risked damaging their backs forever and had a very difficult time looking up and seeing the world as others do. Almost immediately, I began to look around, almost frantically. I was able to sit straight and see, but I realized that I was often so busy about thinking, reflecting and even praying, that I rarely noticed what was directly in front of me.
The women tea pickers taught me a great lesson. If you want to see and know the glory of God in all creation, be sure to use your eyes to enjoy the world each day. While you might also see people and situations that make you uncomfortable, that is the price of being human, and is always a reminder to do something for those in pain.
Today, stand as straight as you can and praise God.
What have you seen lately that startled you into deeper reflection?
THIS has startled me into deeper reflection. Tea has been a constant in my life.. a constant in our family . I take it for granted - and so many things. I promise to pay attention, to look around me - and to see the beauty of the world - and that which I need to see so that I might work to help repair, and that all women may eventually stand up straight.
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