People of the Way
- Details
- Written March 2010
Limbs dry and calloused
Hobbling and stumbling
Yet without an ache
Nasal bridge sunken yet still detecting
The odour of ulcerated limbs
Disgusting even to me.
Eyes failing to close
With tears over-flowing
The blindness of an adherent iris
So that I cannot see myself;
Yet when the mirror remains silent
Know I’m not the beauty of holiness -
Unfit for the holy place
And the holy one.
Coming as I am
And welcomed as I am
Received with respect
By fellow-pilgrims
Sharing stories on a journey
That goes beyond Canterbury.
Transformed in the relationship
Of discovering a shared identity
That survives rejection
In fellowship proving our faith
As we walk ahead;
The beauty of wholeness growing
As we approach the holy place
And the holy one together.
March 2010
Photographs: André du Plessis
Meeting Rebecca Mutanti, near Pemba, Zambia, April 2007
Thoughts of friends affected by leprosy as we worked together on a paper for The Leprosy Mission International - Towards Transformation - A Journey in Diversity:
Click here for photographs from the 1970s: Leprosy at Chikankata
Meeting Rebecca Mutanti, near Pemba, Zambia, April 2007
Thoughts of friends affected by leprosy as we worked together on a paper for The Leprosy Mission International - Towards Transformation - A Journey in Diversity:
Click here for photographs from the 1970s: Leprosy at Chikankata