Susan LaffertySatan lurks. Like a lion in the thicket.
Waiting to seize a victim.
Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth. From generation to generation. Oppression and terror? His language and modus operandi.
But into that thicket of devouring and death comes the Good Shepherd.
Seeking the lost.
After Christmas song and celebration. Days before a new year dawns.
Welcome stillness. In your chair. On a porch. In the woods. At a coffee shop.
And take time for remembrance.
Practice a simple scroll through the past year’s calendar. Or go on a longer walk through your journals.
Wait. Listen.
We dodge auto rickshaws and taxis and goats, crossing a main road. Ten years ago in India.
Our guide asks if we can go to the red light district and pray. Saying, “Be ready. The spiritual battle is intense.”
We step around the corner, into a lane. And I see them. Women in front of narrow doorways on a broken street. Some just sitting. Staring.
Others take care of daily tasks—cooking rice, washing clothes, feeding children.
Ordinary things.
