The Cost Of Being Healed

                                                                           By

                                                                 Alan L. Bryant

     Like many people today, Luis had lost everything he had worked hard to acquire and held dear to his heart.  The business failed first, and then he lost his home.  Finally, his wife and children left him.  Feeling sorry for himself, he began drinking too much.  He was sick in the very depths of his soul, and the more he struggled to climb out of the fix he was in, the deeper he fell into the pit of despair. 

     Meeting a widow at an online dating service who had lost her young husband to cancer, she never tired of listening to his constant crying and complaints.  They had been on several dates, but nothing ever came of it.  Still, they remained good friends.  One day, while spending time together, she talked Luis into visiting a friend who she claimed could help him not feel sad anymore.

     They travelled to the rough part of Lima by combi; it took over an hour in heavy traffic to get there.  Upon arrival, they jumped out and walked quickly to her friend’s house.  A chubby boy eating a torta answered the door of the brick and mud house.  He escorted them through the gate and up a flight of outside stairs to the second floor.  Inside, it looked more like a doctor’s office than somebody’s home.  They sat in the reception area where two elderly women were seated and whispering to each other.  The antiseptic feeling of the place along with the stillness of the room was ever pervasive.