The other day my favorite meditation publication had a piece from Sister Wendy Beckett.   If you don’t know her, Sister Beckett is a consecrated virgin and contemplative hermit who lives under the protection of the Carmelites in England.  She is also a stunningly insightful art expert.   At this point in time she is quite elderly. When I recently saw a photo of her the thing that struck immediately was that she is very little, very frail and almost crumpled into a little ball as she “resides” in her wheel chair. The writing was from a book published in 2013 and was just as astute as all of her art critiques.

It’s funny, but when you see her all you can think of is pity.  I have to fight that urge when I see pictures of Stephan Hawking or think about some of our most powerful in our constellation of the Communion of Saints.   Alphonsus Liguori spent the better part of his life so crippled from arthritis that he had a running sore on his chest where his chin constantly rubbed.  St. Gregory the Great suffered constantly from gout and gastric distress spending days in bed.  His assessment of the situation was summed up this way: “My pain is sometimes alleviated and sometimes intense; but never so alleviated as to leave me, nor ever so intense as to kill me. Hence I am daily dying, but never die.”

          To the eye, each of these people appears as a crumpled up individual, worthy of the “generosity” of our pity.  Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to pity others and instead take advantage of what they have to offer us that pity could never provide. If you think about pity, it can be a smug way to avoid becoming involved in an exchange that we might find disturbing and perhaps learn from.   Read Sister Wendy’s art critiques, you will learn more about history, culture, politics and the minds of Caravaggio,  Michelangelo, Picasso and others than you ever thought possible.  Read Hawking’s work on quantum physics……bet you can’t.  Delve into Liguori and Gregory; both declared Doctors of the Church and game changers as far as Catholicism is concerned. In over two-thousand years only thirty-five Doctors have been named.

Next time you run into a “crumpled up” individual that you are tempted to pity, stop a minute and reconsider.  Give that homeless person an eye to eye greeting. Offer them some dignity. Stop and take a little time with that elderly person.  Ask that disabled kid how their day is going.  No time for any of that? You’re too important?  Maybe you’re the one who is “crumpled up” in places no one can see?

Jesus has asked you to enter into his redemptive love, in the way of his own choosing, and I have no doubt at all that every part of it–pain, fear, disgust, shrinking–will expose your heart’s depth to him as never before.  (Sister Wendy Beckett, Magnificat September 2014)

 

Kathryn is a retired junior high teacher. A convert with a love for the Church she believes that its teachings have a more than viable application for today's world. She writes practical theological for the people in the pews believing that they have as much right to good catechesis as our youth and converts. Her writings appear on Catholic web sites and local Church publications. She has even been published in the diocese of Australia and most recemtly Zenit. Kathryn holds a Master's in Theology and is a certified spiritual director. Learn more about Kathryn at: www.atravelersview.org

4 Replies to “Crumpled”

  1. “It’s funny, when you see her all you can think of is pity” was not my experience at all. I still saw a kind, intelligent, giving (sacrifices as a nun), and brave (being on television despite her less than perfect articulation) woman who now needs prayers for comfort and healing. I will always define her by the way she lived her life and used her talents. Glad to be reminded of her again through your post.

    1. It was the last shot in a documentary she did. She was pictured at the door to the sanctuary, in a wheel-chair, and starkly alone. For the moment I was sad to see her at that place, but as I recalled the amazing work she has done and how much I have learned from her my thoughts moved to amazement and just a little smile at her wry sense of humor.

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