Advent 2008

On the way to the crib

I went on my way:
Like one of the Kings I searched
for a point of light
in the dark sky.
Like one of those without hope I searched
for a spark of
hope in this world.
Like one of those from the forsakenness I searched for
a home with God.
I searched for God among the people
and found
a look which understood me,
and found
a hand which searched for me,
and found
an arm which embraced me,
and found
a mouth which said YES to me.
I found
God after a long search:
very poor,
not powerful,
not magnificent,
very humble, mundane,
as a child in the crib,
naked, freezing, helpless,
with a smile through time;
that is what reached me in my darkness.
God started very small –
with me also.

Uwe Seidel (to Psalm 126 and Lukas 2)

Dear Friends of our Shanti family,

It was last Saturday, the Nepalese Sunday. Christa Schaaf (her contributions are printed in italics below) and I were sitting on my balcony and wondering what to write in our Christmas letter. It was still early in the morning and suddenly the door bell rang. We heard a piercing high voice and a husky male voice on the other side of the door. We were unable to recognise the voices and we could certainly not understand anything. We quickly called Sabitri, my right hand in the station. She lives in the same house as I do and she has repeatedly been my rescuing angel.
With the help of Sabitri’s understanding, a "Christmas story" developed which we would never have been able to invent more impressively!

Our Christmas story

Basta Maja and her husband Baktej were standing outside our door. Baktej was holding a baby in his arms and they were both beaming at us.

I knew that they had never wanted anything more than a child. They were among our very first patients. Both come from the Kathmandu Valley, but they only got to know each other and fell in love when they were with us. Basta Maja has not got a single finger and only two bent toes. Baktej's face is clearly marked by the harelip and a cleft palate and the leprosy had also left its traces. Numerous fingers are crippled.