Sanctuary

PAT ET BONUM

Those are the words that we wore over our hearts as children and hope to remember as we get older.

“Peace and everything that is good.”

It's not
“peace and only the things that you need to go through life;” or
“peace and just the stuff that you like and love;” or
“peace and whatever it is you think that will make you happy.”

It's funny how a figure made of wood and plaster could tell me this through all its inamimate-ness.

“Bro, you didn't have to come. You already knew what you have do even before you got out of bed. Just as you've always known what to do every time you visit. Bring peace and everything that is good.”

But what is “everything”?

The light that comes through the little square panels on the doors and the windows. The silence that's broken only by a baptism ceremony happening just a few metres to my left. The high ceiling that I've always wondered how it got cleaned. The marble floor where I walked countless steps as a young man; in leather school shoes, trainers, cleats, boots, slippers, and bare feet. The airconditioned chapel just behind where the statue of Francis and Our Lady of Lourdes stand; where I would attend the 6:30AM masses while deciding whether or not I will cut school that day.

I don't think I will ever really know what “everything” means. I can only be certain what it doesn't.

I'll just sit here for a while.

In peace.