Beauty And Love

I was at a planning meeting for an upcoming men's retreat weekend recently when one of the men told us that his wife would soon be undergoing open heart surgery. Another of the men at the meeting, a Catholic deacon, has late-stage bladder cancer. Organ cancers are bad news under the best of circumstances. His is just a few moves from checkmate.

The deacon led us in a selfless and heartfelt prayer for the others' wife. He prayed with intimate experience for strength, peace and the ability to face whatever came. He prayed with an honesty and love that was breathtaking. If you didn't know he was facing death himself, you'd never have guessed. His feelings were all for the woman.

It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

Q: Who was the lamb being comforted, the deacon or the wife?
A: Both of them and all of us as well.