I’ve read the blogs at Blogspot and have seen lots of people dealing with stress, out-of-control symptoms, depression, financial strain, non-MS illnesses, and other things outside of the MS realm. I’m not a believer in organized religion, although I do believe in a force greater than ourselves. I like this well-known poem about faith:
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there was one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, had you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,
“The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand
are when I carried you.”
The Lord is not above, watching and playing Russian roulette with everyone’s lives. Allah and Buddha are not waiting for everyone to repent so that illnesses will go away. The greater power and magnificence lie within each of us. We are all a bit of divinity, and we are here to bear one another’s burdens. I cannot answer why some people have far worse cases of MS than others. I cannot fully know your life’s burdens. But I can carry your story of fear with me to the grocery store while I’m shopping for eggs. You in turn can bear my story of anxiety for the future as you go about your day. I can shoulder the pain of your MS symptoms, if only in mind and not body. Look here on earth for your divinity and many folks will be standing in line to lighten your load.
