The Giver and the Given!

Manoj has been on anti-TB drugs for sometime now.
He has the multi-drug resistant variety of tuberculosis.He seems educated enough to know most things about the eight drugs that has been keeping him alive.
He walks into the TB clinic every week,keeps a close watch on the prescriptions written for him ,gets the prescription duely signed for charity and takes off with his medicine quite matter of factedly.Sometimes ,he makes me wonder what goes on inside his head and mind.He never whines,never complains ,he never talks an extra word.
He apparently has lost a brother and a father to the disease.Now just the mother and son survive.
In one of his visits I breezily asked him if he had ever seen the book ,pointing to the Bible,and he said he had just been introduced to the gospel of John and to my surprise he quoted the first verse-
‘In the beginning was the Word ,and the Word was with God and the Word was God’.
All of us in the OPD were stunned to silence.Mukesh hurriedly pulled a chair next to him and started praying with him.
Savitri Devi who was a follow up from deliberate self harm walked in to my OPD looking fresh,beautiful and different from the severely depressed lady I had counselled.
She had ,some years ago,I believe, been walking all the way the hospital to attend the Wednesday seeker’s meeting and had been attending the church but had discontinued due to the work situation where she had had to work on Sundays as well.She promised me she would start coming to the church once she was better.She tucked the bible lovingly into her bag and went home with a smile.
Amazing ,I thought.
This is the wonderful God we serve.The Giver and the Given!
May the grace of God enable many more to receive.