From Scars to Roses

It's one dreary day in Chicagoland...perfect for lazy lounges on the dais or simply conducive for personal reflections. It's still a serene hour in the house as I sat nibbling on a small pieceof precious sugar-free dark chocolate---my treat for the day! If I'm not as lucky to hide this from my hubby, this could be IT for the week! HAhahaha!
I walk around the house and finally settled in front of our makeshift altar in the basement. We are honored to host the Divine Mercy pilgrimage statue this week and as I sat there still relishing the bitter-sweet taste of my half-inch chocolate treat, it dawned on me that the summer has passed and much as it was numbered just like any other days of summer, IT was the summer that changed my life! This past summer is the partial sum of my life...those summers spent and the future summers the Lord will deem me worthy to enjoy.
It was sooo quiet, so peaceful and all of a sudden this giant ugly image of a scar came to mind! THE scar from my Whipple surgery from 8 weeks ago! Geez! How could my traitorous mind conjure a less than appealing image at such a serene moment of self indulgence?!!! Then my sight settled on my beautiful white rose...I say MY because this particular rose I had personally offered to St. Therese more than a month ago along with two other red roses. The two red ones had long ago wilted...only THIS white rose, so silky white and still fresh after so long, had stood silently beside my small statue of St. Therese as I recite my prayers fervently day by day. It is mine...sent from Above by my favorite Saint to whom I had pledged devotion since I was a little girl----and whom I had "forgotten" as I grew old; and to whom I called upon again in my hour of need.
A scar...a rose...isn't the mind the most wondrous part of our body? Lately, scientists had discovered that the mind is, indeed, capable of "plasticity". Not the tangible plastic of our age but in scientific terms---the ability of the mind to reach beyond what was thought to be its only capacity, through bilocation, telepathic transportation and imaging. That would be a different blog topic, okay?
What I'm getting at here is the fact that my subconscious is "rationalizing" about the origin of MY rose. Not from Jewel where I mumbled at the price of $2.99 per stem but WHY I have it in front of me......from a scar to a rose! Had I not had a marvelously unbelievable summer when I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, I don't think I would have ran joyously out of Jewel with that white rose clutched in my hand! Had I not had a "flash of doom" explode in front of my eyes when the very unlikely tests were run prior to my surgery, I don't think I would even enjoy the taste of dark sugar-free truffles in my mouth nor feel very blessed to have the Divine Mercy grace our home!
My smile turned into a silly grin as I looked from the images of Our Lady of Fatima, St. Therese, the Infant Jesus of Prague and the Divine Mercy.....stupid of me to think I could "forget" them just because I've grown up. But, gee! What a boulder of reminder was thrown my way! Another way of thinking would be that I "was stoned from Heaven"! However, with newfound faith, I can say it's a grace from Above. I am happy with my little miracles everyday... with neighbors knocking on my door every morning with fresh tomatoes from their garden, or asking what they could do to help (fancy hearing that from a 70+ year-old whom I'd probably outrun anytime, baby!!!), long-lost friends calling or sending emails telling me they're praying for me, and the ever-annoying but always welcome voice of my recruiter from American Mobile telling me how beautiful the weather is in Hawaii!!!! Drat it!
It is, indeed, very nice to be alive..to reminisce a lot, regret some and even feel guilty for things gone awry in the past. Just that realization will alert us to the fact that TODAY is wonderful...our God is GOOD, always! And, that because we have had the experiences of yesterday and the Life today...we could count on the hope of Tomorrow. For me, my ugly scar led me on a spiritual journey that had blossomed into the promise of MY rose. A promise that alights on my spirit with joy everytime I lay eyes on IT. Yes, as my teens are wont to write or txt or whatever else that is they do today.....GOD S GR8!!!