Mrs G walks in carrying her mother, her children, her husband and her own weary body. The window is still there, and I know it, because we have been along this journey together many times.
Mrs G has been a client of mine for a very long time. She has brought her children, mother, father to see me, and recently even her husband has condescended to come and see me for his chronic back problem. She is a rather large-breasted full-faced mama, who seems very often to be dragging her body after her.
We share the presence of spirit but carry this relationship lightly and joyfully when we are together. It is always as if someone is in the room with us, listening to our conversation and I can usually tell when Mrs G has stopped connecting to me and is having a little side conversation with our extra guest.
But today she has a problem, and for the moment spirit and God are not present. There is too much weight with her problem and her body as she walks in is heavy as she holds her breasts by folding her arms under them. It seems that she is holding two twins in her arms that are becoming too heavy to hold any longer.
It is all about her mother, who now stays with them. A critical mother, a mother who still treats her like a young child, a mother who expects everything to be done for her because she is old and weak. And there is the rest of the family who need her help, a difficult son whom she suspects is on drugs, a daughter who is probably ADD and a supportive husband who nevertheless wants his supper on time.
And her shoulders are painful and her breathing is almost too much effort and her back is sooo sore and I sense that the humour in her body has almost shrunk down into her feet. But even her feet are weary and painful.
Dear mother of this earth, I think to myself, how many of you are out there keeping families together with your strong arms and shoulders, with those feet that must stamp through this journey of life, and when the burden can even cover your spiritual connection then perhaps you need a good hug.
So I smile at Mrs G and I know that there is just a glimmer of a twinkle in my eyes because I must go carefully now, and find that window which I can open in her again to let the light in. I know that window is there because we have been along this journey together many times. It is so easy to forget when life’s burdens accumulate and our thoughts seep slowly down into the dungeons of the mind, where there are only our demons and ghosts of past troubles.
