As nations flail now for want of sage, moral leaders even while stalked by ruin, it would be fair to ask where we might turn our eyes. What moorings might serve as safe harbor for the fashioning of a hereafter? What landmarks can reliably guide us though peril? While the coordinates of that location may be uncertain, a sufficient answer might be, “We’ll know it when we see it.” I glimpsed such an answer in a conversation 12 years ago in the midst of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in southern Africa.
Her name was Patience, a young migrant who kept a food stall in the industrial section of town: rice, goat meat stew, cabbage figured on the menu. Get there early, was the word: the lunch line snakes around the block. She appeared to be alone in her exile world. Patience fled her once proud home town, now ruined by ethnic conflict, drought and political folly. She rose early and retired late to provide for a daughter, left at home in the care of grandparents.
On a weekend afternoon she called at our place in the hope of a listening ear, some friendly counsel, perhaps a whispered prayer. She drew the curtains back on an aching story. Her former husband, she said, had long ago vanished into the faraway sprawling townships. There, as they say delicately, he had ‘made arrangements’, and unbeknownst even to himself, contracted HIV which he brought back home on a single, surprise visit. The family in growing straits, Patience later exiled herself to that roadside food stand where she later learned that she, too, was now HIV-infected – a souvenir of her child’s disgraced father.
Now there had come news that he, in the grip of full-blown AIDS, had returned derelict to his village home. His wasted frame told the story to his extended family who for fear and shame wanted nothing more to do with him. ‘Once long ago,’ Patience went on, ‘I made sacred vows of mutual care to this man. The moment has come to test the substance of those words, whether any honor or strength remains to me. I do not know if I can withstand the fear and scorn that wait to greet me in that village. So, I am asking that someone plead with heaven on my behalf.”

On sale here is not just a rich variety of produce and consumer goods, but the food fare specific to each region. The good-natured bargaining and the welter of jocular give-and-take draw
buyers and sellers together for a memorable social event dressed up in a riot of color and activity. Photo credit: Global Trade Review
A holy silence followed this telling as I fought to take it in. I thought to myself, ‘Patience, it is rather you who should plead for me. I do not possess such honor or moral courage.’ But just the same, as she had asked, I whispered a plea for her – and for myself. Then she modestly took leave. It was the last time I saw her. I learned that she nursed her dying ex until the end, then returned for a while to her roadside food stall until she, too, sickened and died.
To her friends, her community and acquaintances, to those who knew her remarkable story, she had served up sustenance of a rare kind. Of a kind that would safely lead a people not just through the agonies of pandemic, but beyond to a life of refreshment and lasting goodness.
Gut wrenching story rooted in the experiences of so many, indeed countless women. Will men ever learn to take responsibility rather than excuse their animalistic behavior as merely following custom?
Yes, it is a wonder that heedlessness has not already overwhelmed us. If it has not, that must be testimony to the likes of Patience whose stout goodness and humanity, not to say faith, has stood off the very worst effects of waywardness. If only our lives might count for something like Patience’ legacy.
Love it♥️
Almost an incredible story. But I believe it as you shared it.
Hello, Melodie! I, too, sometimes ask myself, is such wild righteousness possible at all? That however crushing the humiliations and betrayal, nobility can still hold pride of place? Having seen it in a handful of such encounters, often midst suffering, it is impossible to turn away or settle for anything less.
Thanks, Jonathan,
This recent Traipse is especially compelling. We always look forward to the next one. Your travels have created the opportunity for fabulous and touching stories, written by an equally fabulous story teller.
Carol
Hello, Carol and Buddy! I’m touched by your affirmation! Somewhere out on the streets of our own agonies, I am certain that there are feats of conscience and compassion performed away from the klieg lights and clamor. I only hope that watchful souls will tell those stories in the service of our tomorrows.
The Rev J. P. Larson, you remember the metaphor, “Woman, carrier of the Nation!”? With that truth comes the burdens our mothers have to conform to the societal expectations to cover up for everybody, not just their offspring, but even wayward life partners who would have ignored good counsel in ample time. All these things done in the belief to raise up a whole generation. This is so familiar a testament!
Our dear Friend, Stan Becker, also addressed the aspect of compassion that may not be scientifically proven to be curative but is a deeply human desire to beseech God’s interventions of healing for those we meet on our journey:
https://www.friendsjournal.org/holding-in-the-light-prayer-and-healing/