Entry Fifty-Seven:
Levi tells me that in order to help others, I have to learn how to help myself…but I wonder if it is not in the helping of others that I have found the strength and the reason to help myself. Since being engaged in activities so different to my previous routine when Benjamin was still here, I have been forced to distance myself from that which dragged me back into the past.
I have been so busy working with my newfound friends that I have neglected to record my thoughts in my journal for some time now. I find that I am so much more aware of those around me who are not as fortunate as I am…especially the children. Jericho has its fair share of poverty stricken people…people who came with a hope that they might find gainful employment in a larger town, only to find that their expectations did not match reality. Many are so impoverished that they are now beggars who sit at the entrance to the town day after day, hoping for handouts from kind strangers. How is it possible that we, a nation supposedly under God, have so many destitute people right on our doorsteps?
I found these poor men and women as I have been walking up and down the road by which Benjamin would follow should he return to me…to us. The law tells us to take care of the needy among us, and so we have begun to employ those who are still able, to work in the fields. Esther and her daughters are teaching some of the women folk to weave baskets out of the reeds that grow in abundance along the riverbanks. This activity really boosts my spirits.
But I still watch for Benjamin. My eyes strain to see the faces of those walking on the road. Dear God in Heaven grant that one day, I might see my son coming along the way…coming home to us. In the meantime, I occupy my waking moments with helping others help themselves. Aaron thinks I have finally gone mad…
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