Contentment

Yesterday I went to the hospital in deck three looking for Clementine Tengue, the patient Chaplain. Nurses and patients walked up and down and in and out of doors in the port side hallway of the hospital. As I moved aft I faced a boy, twelve to thirteen years old, in a wheel chair, cast in his two legs from uncle to above his knees. He had a big smile in his face as if he was having the time of his life. I stopped and asked his name. I could barely understand “Mohamed”. I continue and asked, “How old are you?” He looked at me with a negative expression that I interpreted as if he did not understand the question. To my salvation, a passing by translator asked him in Creole, “He is asking how old you are?” The boy said something that I could not comprehend. The translator said: “He doesn’t know how old he is.” The boy who did not know how old he is, but his contentment shown in his face was contagious. I did not find Clementine; however, I left the hospital wandering the reasons for a boy in cast to be in such a state of satisfaction and contentment with life. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”