A red hankerchief
If we can’t change the entire world, is alleviating the pain good enough? Sometimes it feels like our grain of sand is really only that: a grain of sand, but here’s a story from my mom, a hospital clown in Chile, in defense of the “band-aid” theory.She wrote it for her yahoo group Clowns To The Rescue. If you’re interested or already involved in the magical world of hospital clowning, please check it out.
One time I was clowning in a large public hospital, and somehow my clown handkerchief covered with bright red hearts had fallen from my pocket. Later, on my way to the coffee machine in the basement a little kid runs up to me and hands me back the handkerchief. I thank him and walk on with it in my hand kind of in wonderment as to how I had lost it, and how this kid that I didn’t even recognize had it on a totally different floor of the hospital. When I round the corner to where the coffee machine is I almost bump into this tall young hippy looking man who is crying so hard that his tears literally splashed onto the floor of the hospital. I ask him what happened it turned out that his toddler had fallen out of a 2nd floor window and was in the emergency room. I said, “OK, we are going to pray for your child right now”, and I took his hand and began to pray for his child’s recovery. When I was saying good bye and was about to get the coffee that everyone was still waiting for in the hospital courtyard, I took one last look at his tear soaked face and then remembered the red heart handkerchief! So that’s why the little boy had returned it to me! I gave it to the young man to wipe his tears and told him,” This handkerchief is to help you remember this prayer.” It seemed like such a small gesture, but somehow I had the feeling that it was going to be very significant in this family’s life. I thought, “My God how many things can happen on the way to a coffee machine?