November 6 - Read this Book!

I have the honor of recommending a book to you this day.

I heartily recommend buying and reading Ana's Voice: When God Speaks Through a Silent Child by Dr. Randy Jessen, the dean of the Beeson Program at Asbury. This is the story of the Jessen family's struggle to adopt an HIV+ child from a Romanian orphanage. It is a true story of hope, persistance, tenacity, grace and redemption.


You may buy it online at any of the following locations:
Amazon
B&N
Books-A-Million
E-Bay

Now, I confess that Randy gave Becca and I this book back in July. Becca read it within a week. Why? Because she's a total angel-babe with a heart of gold and a mind strewn with wisdom!

I finally read the book last night. Why? Because I'm a slacker.

Anyway, it was hard to stop reading it. I had to force myself to stop at page 70 at midnight to get some sleep. I only meant to read the first couple of chapters. I completed it this morning at about 7:30 A.M. while waiting on some car maintenence. (Car's doing fine, Dad.)

I could not help reflecting on the story of the cook who came running after Randy as he left the Orphanage with Ana (p 100). With all the institutional post-Communist, rigidity found in Romania (it even effected the Americans!), I could not help thinking that the cook was a symbol of cracking of that rigidity. She was the one who let everyone know what was going on inside the heart of everyone involved, in the heart of Romania. She just happened to be the one with the courage to say what everyone else was thinking. Her words told the truth. I could not help seeing parallels in Dr. Black's attitude about gypsies, Romi's tears at the end, never taking his eyes off Ana, and the whole refrain of "why would they do this for a little HIV+, gypsy girl?"

I grew up in Florence, Alabama, near Wilson Dam. We were all told the story of the little Dutch boy who held back the water by putting his finger in the dam. That cook, however small and insignificant she is in the grand scheme of things, was the first real crack in the dam of institutional rigidity that Randy found. I remember Randy writing that he turned around in fear after hearing her initial shouts. It must always be a fearful moment when we stand at the foot of a dam that is cracking. Like all Tennessee River rats know, if the dam cracks, like the little Dutch boy, one can hold it back for a while, you can ever repair the dam, but it will not last. The dam is breached. The foundation is uncertain. All water eventually flows down hill and God's spirit eventually turns situations right side up. The law of the Lord is written on human hearts. We can try to cover it up or even scratch it away like an old tattoo that we hate, but in the end all we do is scar our own hearts.

So, while she was a crack in the dam so to speak, in her own way, the cook was one of the heros of the Ana story. The cook told the truth; the cook went to confession; the cook showed the true heart of Romania. I have this feeling that through her honesty she started the process of healing her own heart and the heart of Romania.

I sent these thoughts to Randy in an e-mail. Here is his reply: "I appreciate your insights and your thoughtful reflections. I can tell you one thing, I will never forget the face of that cook or the tears she shed. Her face, her head scarf, and her hands twisted into her apron will forever be with me. She was indeed a symbol of repentance that spoke for many people within that system. In the end, they are wonderful people doing the best they can under very difficult and even desperate conditions. When you add the fact that communism built in a huge 'distrust the system but must do it anyway to survive' theme ... her comments and her heart were remarkably expressive."

So how are you scratching and scaring your heart? How can you quit scratching and scaring and start being expressive about the healing that you need and we all need? How can you be a part of the solution to heal not only your heart, but the hearts of others as well?

Oh, and by the way, Ana will be 18 on March, 2007. She is thriving. Please read this book. Hear the story of how she came to the US to a family full of love. And if only for a moment, touch redemption.

Grace and peace,
Trav Wilson