Francis Delalieu; A Good Samaritan--He saved a future Servant of God and her family from death and then he seemingly vanished.
Meet "Annie"; One of God's Great Champions
Photo By: Flickr/Sita Marie
There is a light that can never be looked upon because it is so brilliant you would be blinded forever. This light shines inside God’s chosen ones, many of whom are marginalized and disabled. There are many of us who can sense this light and embrace those who have it. Others ignore and sometimes, even abhor it. That light is the Love of God.
I was recently blessed when I received a letter from a woman in her thirties who had been severely injured a number of years ago and, besides physical handicaps, suffers from brain trauma (I agreed not to identify her so I will just call her “Annie”). The letter was in response to an article I had written and I wanted to share part of it.
Its beauty was so profound you can actually feel and see the Hand of God himself acting as Annie’s ‘ghost” writer. It was a lengthy letter so what I post here is out of context. She is certainly one of the Chosen Ones, one of God’s invisible champions. What follows is exactly what she wrote:
“Larry, I has a prayer that I do evry morning for me.. as I humble submit evry day to the lord will and Him direckshun.. (I myself is not the look of world full beuty.. I atrophy from paralyze an very skinny (icky & sickly to some) I do understand my beuty in Elohim* eyes (an my mommah).. evry morning I ask the holy spirit to give me eyes to see how the Lord see us.. I so bless with amaze spiritual giff to see human beuty threw god eyes an ask god to reveel the forgotton ones that world full humans cast a glance an offen tern way.. cood be elderly.. poor.. differen color/accent/name.. mental/emoshunal differen.. too fat/thin.. to short/tall.. disfigure/disable... heck cood even be wrong kine of car in my hoity toity village... some thing that is... TOO... TOO.. I am grace w.Jesus eyes.. I so luck full to see in miracle way that moss can not even imajine…”
The heart and soul of this injured woman shine through her struggled words to reveal an inner beauty that only God can give, a transcendent luminescence that should keep us in awe of Him who created it.
The redemption of our souls, the essence of who each of us is, is always available to us. In our secular environment of today, many have come to believe that they are in charge of their own destiny. They are their own “god” and should answer to no one but themselves. However, the false religion of“Meism” is a dead end, a road to nowhere, an absolute journey to permanent hopelessness.
The handiwork of God is all around us. From the tiniest flower to the majestic mountains, to the perfection of a universe where you can know to the very second when a solar eclipse will occur and never doubt whether or not there will be 24 hours in a day, every day. Ultimately, when that day is done, you will find God’s most magnificent handiwork in the “least of His brethren.”
More from Annie:
... I use my hugs an love as extenshun of jesus if I is command & order as I believe I juss instrument an vessel for Adonai* to use... heck even thow I juss lern how read write in lass 13 year some pepel (inclue frien or famly) even make fun my English word or spelling.. that is fine by me... God understand my words both spoke an unspoken.... an all moss ever one understand kine in a smile.. a touch.. or hug.. the meanie pepel.. well.. God will deel with the meanies not me..
There are those who have demeaned, rejected, and abused Annie many times but this physically damaged child of God harbors a love for Him that shines forth from every skinny, atrophied part of her very being and offers love, understanding, and forgiveness. How beautiful is that?
The torchbearer for the Olympic Games runs into the stadium holding high a light for all to see. Annie is the bearer of a light so bright it can never be looked upon. She is a true Champion and will one day have her Gold Medal. And it will be God Himself who gives it to her along with a great, big hug. She will have earned her place among the select ranks of God’s greatest champions.
*Elohim and *Adonai: Hebrew names for God from the Old Testament
copyright©Larry Peterson 2017
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About the Author
Larry Peterson, a former reinforcing Iron-Worker from NYC, is a Catholic/Christian blogger and posts commentary weekly. His work has appeared in such publications as Aleteia, Zenit from Rome, New Evangelists, Top Catholic Blogs, Big Pulpit, Catholic365.com, and others.
His first children's picture book, "Slippery Willie's Stupid, Ugly Shoes" was published in 2011. In 2012, his full-length novel, "The Priest and the Peaches" was released. His second novel, "The Demons of Abadon," was released in the spring of 2016
Larry's latest novel, "Horizon Homeless," was released in ebook format in May of 2017, and the paperback followed on July 27, 2017.
Larry belongs to the Catholic Writer's Guild, The Catholic Writer's Society, The Knights of Columbus, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He has been an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion for over twenty years bringing communion to the homebound and hospitalized.
You can find more at https://cradlingcatholic.com/ or larrypeterson-author.com www.slipperywillie.blogspot.com or contact Larry at petersonlarry6@gmail.com
