Post by Susan Peabody on Apr 19, 2023 13:35:11 GMT -8
Reaching Out
A brighter tomorrow brings a new beginning which brings a new adventure . . .
Now that I am in remission from cancer and a confirmed Catholic, I have begun a new adventure. God has finally revealed to me why he wanted me to become a catholic in the first place. He wanted to introduce me to the Missionaries of Charity, which I have wanted to do since I was a teenager.
Today was my first day with my beloved Missionaries of Charity. It was everything I had imagined. I arrived at 9:00 a.m. at their convent in Richmond. They greeted me and quickly put me to work. I explained that I had kidney disease and could not stand too long, so they brought me a chair. I met Mother Sharon and Sister Francesca. There were two other volunteers named Rosa and Clara. Together we packed up fifty lunches.
We then got in a van and drove to Berkeley---three miles from where I used to live. We all got out of the van and distributed the food. I chatted briefly with everyone and was so happy to be there.
About noon, I met Mattie. He said, "I lit myself on fire last night." I asked, "Why did you do that?" He said, "My voices told me to do it." I realized he must be schizophrenic and so I talked to him about listening to the good voices and not the bad ones. He asked me for an example. I said, "If the voice tells you to harm yourself or others, you ignore it. If the voices tell you to love yourself and others it is a good voice." He said, "I am going to think about that; thank you.?
We left Berkeley feeling great. I felt as if I had waited all my life for this. Carla drove me home and I started working on my new book, God Stories.