He
looked in the mirror, repelled by the sight, a constant reminder of his last
fire-fight. 'Though he'd rescued a man, a dog, and a boy, his fame as a
"hero" brought him little joy. For his wife had now left him for a
more handsome man. She said, "Care of an invalid was not in my plan."
As
he stood there bemoaning his unhappy state, he was filled with self-pity, with
anger and hate. His dreams for the future now turned upside down, he limped to
the park, on his face a deep frown. As relief for his mind, he sat down to
read. To the movement around him he paid little heed. Then out from a group of
some children at play a ragged young girl approached, her head turned away.
Standing close to his side, her eyes to the ground, she stretched out her arm
and said, “Look what I found!” She held in her hand what looked like a weed,
all wilted and brown, its flower gone to seed.
The
man growled in answer, "Just leave me alone. Get on with your playing, or
run along home."
But
the child was undaunted. "I picked these for you. They're awfully pretty,
and I think you are, too."
The
man was annoyed, for her eyes seemed to shift. He pushed her aside, refusing
her gift. He thought that she mocked him, as others had done--the object of
ridicule, the target for "fun".
And
then something happened. God opened his mind. A new look he took: the wee girl
was blind! He reached out and touched her. He patted her head; then accepted
her flowers, although they looked dead.
His
anger and hatred had started their melt. God's love, through this child, he
knew he had felt. The man turned to thank her, but she wasn't there. She seemed
to have vanished into the noon air. Although day after day to the park the man
came, he never did see his small angel again.
But
the child had awakened in him a desire to start a new life, to forget that last
fire. He went to the hospital, where once he had been. He stood there and
stared at familiar scenes. He watched the burn patients in their therapy. In
some he saw anger, in some, agony. Remembering so vividly the pain he'd
endured, he knew that the "inside" was the hardest to cure. From that
moment on, he knew what he'd do. He'd help these folks heal. And his soul would
heal, too.