HB4Faith&Family - Magazine - Page 20
A Wise Man Once Said ÒIf you donÕt get
what you want you suffer; if you get what you
donÕt want you suffer; even when you get
exactly what you want, you still suffer because you canÕt hold on to it
forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change.
Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is
law, and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.
_______________________________________________________________________________
(Annie Johnson Flint - Continued)
that because of advanced arthritis she would be a helpless invalid for
the rest of her life. In addition to her arthritis she suffered from other
ailments, including cancer and painful bed-sores. There were never
enough pillows Annie could use to ease her suffering, even slightly.
I was drawn to this poem and to AnnieÕs story because of her story
and her entrepreneurial sprit. Her story and her determination to
support herself touched me. Maybe it was also because it raised the
question thatÕs as old as humanity itself, ÒWhy is there so much pain
and suffering in this world.Ó
Several years ago I spoke at a funeral of a friend who had suffered a
great deal in the year leading up to his death. In closing I took the
time to read this poem. It seemed Þtting, and because I felt this poem
could only have been written by someone who had no choice but to
look upward. By looking up, Annie saw God more clearly. Both her
poems and her story implied this to me. Annie said that her Þrst
poems were born of a need of others and not her own need, and that
her writings provided her solace.
I have wondered at times if Annie would have been able to write this
poem, or others, if she had not suffered as she did? And, if she could
write them without the suffering, would they have had the same
meaning to her readers? Such is the mystery.
