By Jessica WildeWhen I look in the mirror, I do not recognize the face I see. Then I look again, this time a little more closely, and I see three different faces staring back at me: My own face, Anne and Maribel. The first face I see in the mirror is my own. It is the face of a cancer victim. It is the face of pain from a disease that is attempting to destroy the fiber of my being. It is the face of a cross that seems to be unbearable at times. It is the face that fears what the future may or may not hold. The second face I see in the mirror is bald like me, but because of oppression, she had no hope for a future. The second face is Anne Franke and the thousands of other woman, men and children who suffered the shame of having their heads shaved due to racism, and most faced death shortly afterwards. It is a face of tears as dreams and lives were cut short. And now, the lock of my own hair that sits next to my Mary statue reminds me of the mountains of hair from all the victims heaped up at the museum in Auschwitz...victims who were sheared like sheep before being slaughtered like animals. It is a face of horror and oppression. The third face is the face of Maribel. She too is suffering from cancer. But, she has hair; a sign that like Anne, she also has no hope for a future. She is the face of the poor and marginalized in our world. Just like Anne, she too is oppressed. She is in pain and is dying from a cancer without treatment because she was born in the wrong country or in the wrong social class. I've seen many faces like hers before--in a small adobe Mexican house, she writhes in pain from a cancerous tumor growing in her belly as the priest administers the Sacrament of the Sick, while in Costa Rica, she spends days in a crowded hospital waiting room. Even though health care is available to her, she is still sent home with pain medicine to die while the rich with the same diagnosis would be treated and live. So yes...the faces in the mirror haunt me. I can't help but look back at my own bald head and be sad for Anne and Maribel. Unlike them, I am not oppressed. I am receiving treatment and I freely choose to lose my hair to have a chance at a future. While cancer is a huge cross, it turns out that my baldness is a gift from God and a sign of hope. So please do not pity my baldness but instead help me to fight for and pray for the other faces that I remember when I look in the mirror...the faces of the poor, the marginalized, the victims of war and violence, often forgotten and oppressed.
Today, please join me in praying for all the other faces in the mirror besides my own that suffer and die from oppression. Dear Lord I pray for the souls that perished in Aushwitz and the many other concentration camps, prisons, and ghettos during wars of the past century. I pray for the poor who are oppressed and suffer and die due to neglect. Dear Lord please end hate and oppression. Please open our eyes to truly love and care for each other, regardless of race, religion, place of birth, or class. Thank you Lord for the opportunity to receive medical care. Thank you for the wonderful doctors and nurses who take care of me. Thank you Lord for taking my hair and giving me a future filled with hope.
5 Comments
Sarah Granger
9/9/2018 10:07:52 am
Beautiful Jessica! Thank you for your heroic faith
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Karla stephens
9/9/2018 05:06:02 pm
Praying you get better and for.others too.
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Veronica
9/9/2018 06:46:18 pm
Thank you Jessica, I really needed to hear this today, God Bless !
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Randi Blanton
9/12/2018 10:42:00 am
So beautiful Jessica! Thank you for sharing your heart!
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Geri
9/20/2018 07:25:34 am
Praying for you, Jessica.
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On a MissionTwo passionate parents and their four children are excited to bring His Word to everyone in need while living a life of Gospel poverty as missionaries. They invite you to join them on a journey to encounter our global neighbors that Jesus commands us to love through works of charity and service. Archives
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