Covid 19 and new lease on life
Heal me, O Lord and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for thou art my praise
Jeremiah 17:14
In the late mid-2020s, I was among the earliest Filipinos to be stricken with Covid 19. It was a battle I fought during five weeks of confinement at a hospital where my primary doctor was someone I have known since her birth. And she looked after me with the same care and devotion she might have lavished upon her own mother.
The first and major symptom was difficulty in breathing. And while I remember very little of those days, I had a sense of being in a dark. tiny, and confined space. For some reason, I took this space to be the open wound on the side of Jesus where he was pierced by a lance. A song kept going through my head: “Hide me in Your Holiness.”
As I struggled to breathe, I came to the conclusion that with an open wound on his side, Jesus too, must be struggling with his breathing, and I asked how he manages to breathe.
I remember thinking “Is this how it feels to be dead? But if I’m dead, why am I having these thoughts?” I spent three days and three nights in total darkness in this half-conscious, half-unconscious condition.
It was very nearly my birthday, and with some sense of resentment, I rebuked the Lord, “What kind of birthday gift is this? So mean, naman!”
But it was during those last three days before my birthday that the darkness around me and within me, began to lift. As well, the oxygen device that I drew from the wall beside my bed became more effective, bringing me relief. It was getting easier for me to breathe!
A few weeks after that, I was out of hospital and back home. I was in hospital for a total of five weeks. But unlike many recovered Covid patients, I suffered none of the after-effects others seem to have endured.
I turned 87 on my birthday at the hospital. And while many younger and far stronger individuals succumbed to Covid 19, I seem to have pulled through relatively unscathed, as if I had merely gone through a bout of flu, with no lingering side-effects.
The Chinese believe that eight is a lucky number, therefore 87, preceded by the number 8 must be lucky. I do not attribute my healing to a lucky number, but rather to my brief sojourn in that dark hidden corner on the side of Christ. I believe that is what pulled me through, and I thank God for my new lease on life.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
Six prominent men in the bible – Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Isaiah and Ananais – responded with “Here I am, Lord”, when called. And while no woman is quoted as having used those exact same words, we do know that some women complied with the same obedience to God’s call, among them Mary, the mother of Jesus in her celebrated fiat: “Be it done unto me according to thy word.”
Surely, I can do no less. With thanksgiving in my heart, I say: –
Here I am Lord. Send me!
Blanche Gallardo
