Our Lady of Lourdes

Our Lady of Lourdes stands at the door of the chapel at Mercy Health, a hospital in Paducah, Kentucky. Day and night, season after season, she invites passersby to pause for prayer and meditation. No doubt, she has seen great depths of human desperation, despair and pain, but she continues to offer mercy, healing, and hope.

I once read that the Sioux Indians believed whatever had happened once in a place continued to happen. If there was a terrible, bloody battle in a particular valley, that battle continued for infinity in that place. Perhaps it could be seen only by a few, but it could be felt by anyone who paid attention. I believe there is truth in that.

I think this relates to hospitals and other places where human pain and misery is concentrated. I visit there when I must, and I do experience the suffering, but to this point in my life, I've always been able to leave and go home. The suffering doesn't end when I leave the building, though. Life and death battles continue day and night and, very possibly, throughout eternity in that spot.