Are We Not All Beggars?

We were warned that encountering the beggars would be hard and it is.  The legless maneuvering their way down the aisles of the metro, money being placed in their jacket hood, ancient women at midnight crouching in the shadows, crossing themselves.  We have learned to load up our pockets with change when we leave home.  King Benjamin's words fill my mind.  It can be a tender time for us.

 The good news is that we all know that we are far more alike than we are different.  One of the greatest joys of life is digging deep enough to connect on a new level as children of God.  One of the tasks we set for ourselves in this gigantic metropolis is, as much as we can, to really LOOK at as many individuals as possible, especially the beggars.  Sometimes it's a brief  glance, sometimes, like on the metro, we may be facing the same person for an hour or more.  It's wonderful how we can connect without words.

 I wish I had taken a picture of a woman we encountered on the metro. We sat across from each other for quite awhile.  This is the only way I can describer her.  Picture an aging woman who at one time was a stunning beauty.  The deep wrinkles had not yet crowded out the dark, exotic features.  Her once shapely figure was now more than ample and not very modestly wrapped in a garish knit dress that was no longer doing it's job.  Long, stringy, too-black hair was draining her face.  I pointed to the flowers she held (Moscovites love flowers) and tried to say how beautiful they were.  She shyly smiled without revealing how few teeth remained.  As she reached her stop, she stood, grabbed my hand and kissed it and earnestly expressed some thought.  I don't know what she said but she was still beautiful in my eyes.
 I had a similar experience a couple of weeks ago as we entered the Ballet.  I smiled and locked eyes with a woman coming the opposite direction.  As we passed she took my arm, kissed me on the cheek and whispered, "spaceba" (thank you).  I cried.

Unless it is raining, we have the pleasure of enjoying the company of at least 3 "babushkas" (grandmothers) who sit outside our apartment building.  They talk and laugh and I'm sure gossip as women do everywhere.  They are often there when we leave in the morning and can be counted on to be there when we return in the afternoon.  They welcome us home as though we were family.  We pretend to understand them and they do the same.  Today we asked if we could take their picture.  They were so excited.  We photographed the 3 who were there, then Dick made copies for them.  When he took the copies down, they stood, made crosses, kept bowing and chattering as Russians do,  laughed and hugged him.  Simple, good women who, like all of us, love to get a little attention.

We are purposely not making this blog a travelog.  We are not tourists, we are missionaries, carrying the sacred gospel of Jesus Christ, but we do love to see the sights.  Each saturday we explore the city, along with other wonderful missionary couples.  We are awed by the grandeur and history we see. 

Last week we explored the Victory museum.  It is a testament to the terrible price that was paid by the Russian people in every war, but particularly the "Great Patriotic War", (WW II).  Russians are sensitive to the perception that we in the west do not appreciate the suffering and sacrifice made by them in that terrible conflict.  The museum is gigantic, magnificently presented and sacred. It takes multiple visits to try to absorb. From the ceiling of one spacious room hang hundreds of thousands of strands of tiny crystals, strung together.  The crystals total 26 million, roughly the number of Russians who died in that war.  The figures at the end of the room of a woman holding a dying son is meant to represent the suffering of women throughout time, losing those they love to war. 

Also touching to me is the gigantic sculpure on the grounds outside.  It is a series of figures signifying the universality of suffering.  Without the knowledge of the Lord's Great Plan of Happiness, it would all seem so pointless.  We are grateful to be part of this great work. We know that each of us is a precious child of God.  We see that in every person we encounter.  We are individually important and loved.  As we try to bring this message of joy to others, our understanding and ability increases and we are all transformed.  This is so much fun!