God Makes Crooked Lines Straight

Recently I was feeling a bit dejected.  Some of the decisions I made in my role as a husband and father did not go well, though my intentions were good, the end result was not as expected, causing unhappiness from those around me, and affecting me too. It was in such a moment that I came across an article in media that changed my mood for the better.

An account of an effort made that went wrong, where initially the person who made the attempt was ridiculed and later on found redemption gives me hope that true intentions always bear fruit, ultimately.

This is a true story.  Narrating the details as much as I can remember.  An 81 year old widow, living in a small town in Spain , called Borja, has spent most of her life looking after her challenged children, one with muscular dystrophy and the other with cerebral palsy. Certainly this must have been exhausting work.

On her regular visits to her Church that give her the solace she so desperately needed, the Church that she was married in and where her children received their First Communion, called the Virgin of Mercy,  she sees a painting of Christ in His crown of thorns, done by a visiting painter (Elias Garcia Martinez) as a gift, on the wall that has been fading.   She decides to take action, and telling no one but the Parish Priest, she starts to work on restoring the painting with the knowledge she has.

It is exhausting work under the hot sun, and she decides to take a much needed break for a couple of weeks.  In the time she was away, a tourist to the village takes a picture of the half done work and this goes viral on the internet.  Many start making fun saying Behold the Man (Ecco Homo) , has become Behold the Monkey (Ecco Mono)? 

They compare this to a movie of Mr. Bean on a similar theme of clumsy painting restoration.  The relatives of the original painter are upset.  This adverse and unexpected reaction so shocks the widow that she withdraws into a shell, refuses to eat, weeping continuously and losing almost 6 kilos (13 lbs.).

A strange thing then happens, people start to visit slowly, curious to see for themselves.  The numbers swell over time to thousands, they identify with this painting.  The Church charges a small amount to visitors and shares this with the painter.  She becomes well enough to take care of her children.

Is this an amazing story or not? And it is all true.  You can check out Cecilia Gimenez on the internet (Ecce Homo (García Martínez and Giménez)). She  passed recently but her spirit lives on in the painting she touched up (inexpertly), and the hope she evokes in people like me that God writes straight on crooked lines.

One day, my sincere, though misguided efforts, may bear fruit too, if the Lord wills it.  The intent is important; the results are not.  That is the lesson I learnt from the life of Cecilia Gimenez.

What is your learning?

This scriptural verse resonates:

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9).