Close to God

Yesterday I was taking a break at the local cafe when a friend dropped by. She seemed relaxed and well...as though living was as easy as breathing and all we ever have to do it to take another step forward in gentle confidence. I asked how she was doing. She said, "We've just had a baby in the house."

The story unfolded that a couple of weeks ago a baby boy was born six weeks premature. He was given up by his mother. An NGO-worker who knew of my friend's nursing background asked if she would take care of the baby for a few days. The goal was to give the tiny boy individual attention in a family context during this critical time. He was just two days old when my friend took him home. He was dehydrated, unable to feed and his skin was extremely fragile. For seven days and seven nights my friend loved this new life. She kept him warm. She encouraged him to feed. She touched his delicate skin. She washed his tiny limbs. She held him. Then she entrusted him to a Cambodian family that the NGO found to be foster carers. Even though he's still small, at least now he has little, fleshy cheeks for substitute brothers, aunts and cousins to pinch.

The week of caring for such a vulnerable life was a deeply spiritual experience for my friend. She told me that though the intense, exhausting hours she felt, "so close to God, so close to God."