Dave Hop The young girl stirs, but not in a sweat-induced state of restlessness.
Now her face is calm, her breathing steady, there is no sign of fluttering behind her eyelids.
She opens her eyes now and smiles. And her mother smiles back, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.
‘Why are you crying mum?’ the daughter asks.
Her mother shakes her head.
‘Because you’re wonderful,’ she says, ‘and you came back to me.’
The girl’s smile slips into a frown for a moment.
‘Have I been away?’ she asks, and her mother nods.
‘You went far away, so far I was afraid you’d never come back. I love you so much darling.’
The daughter sits up and rubs her eyes.
‘I’m hungry,’ she says.
‘Of course you are,’ says her mother and she sniffs and brushes tears away as she turns to get some bread.
‘I met a great man today,’ her mother says as she busies herself with the food.
‘Oh, I wish I was there…’
‘Well, you were the reason I met him.’ She hands the plate to her daughter. ‘He was quite a character, I had a joke with him.’
‘A joke?’
The mother laughs, ‘Yes, he has a great sense of humour. I wanted his help but he seemed distracted and busy and he dared to suggest I was like a dog worrying him.
‘A dog?!’
‘Yes, perhaps he thought I was like a puppy, and I wouldn’t stop hurling myself at him. His friends tried to hold me back but it was too important.’
‘What was too important?’
‘I needed his help. So I gave as good as I got, I said I might be like a little doggie but dogs get to eat the leftovers. And I needed just a little of what he had left over.’
‘What for?’
And her mother smiles a tearful smile again.
‘For you my darling, he rescued you, and brought you back to me. He’s a lovely man.’
‘What was his name?’
‘Jesus.’
Matthew 15 v 21-28
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