Lily holds a brush in hand as she sits at the river's edge. Her mother watches from a distance and notices immediately the hesitant movement of the brush her daughter holds so tightly. Lily is troubled, she knows, and decides to make her presence known.
"My sweet daughter, it is good to see you here with your paint and canvas," her mother says as she walks closer.
Lily is not really startled as she has already sensed her mother's nearness. "Hello, Mother," she says quietly and adds with a smile, "I knew you would follow me here. You have been watching me very closely of late, I know."
Her mother sighs and sits beside her. She takes Lily's free hand in hers and says, "Yes, I suppose I have been but you do understand how concerned we have been about you. All who love you have been."
Lily nods but remains silent as her mind travels back to those recent days when she was so very ill, those days when life and death battled for her soul. She understands the concern of her family and friends. The experience changed her and she has found herself struggling to grasp the essence of herself before the illness and she knows they have all noticed the change in her.
She sighs deeply before she speaks, "Mother, will I ever feel like me again?"
Her mother wipes a single tear from Lily's cheek as she says, "Yes, you will once you have accepted what has happened."
"I am not so sure I will," she replies softly as the tears flow more freely.
Her mother's heart hurts for her child but knows she must help Lily find her strength again.
"Lily, if one of the young ones came to you and asked about changes or second chances, how would you answer them? Think about it for a time and you will find your own answers," her mother says and begins to rise. "I will leave you to your thoughts but will not be far. I will pick berries and then come back to see if you are ready to go back to the village." She squeezes Lily's hand once more before she releases it and walks slowly away.
Lily knows her mother speaks the truth and she feels her thoughts fly to that place of peace and reassurance. She whispers to herself, "What would I tell the children if they did ask me of those things?"
Of its own volition the hand holding the brush moves toward the bare canvas and Lily begins to paint. She paints her answers. She paints of her acceptance. She paints of her realization that changes are often the reality of second chances. She paints of the blending of light and darkness, the melding of struggle and triumph, the battle of giving in and moving forward. She paints of truths she has had to accept and she begins to understand. She has not changed but her circumstances have, her surroundings of self have, and her belief in second chances has, but she, the determination, the strength she has always known, and the purity of thought that breathes in the serenity of spirit, have not. She is still Lily! She is still her parents' child, loved by her family and many friends. She is still trusted by the Maestro and the Word Gatherer to bring honesty and lessons learned to the young ones. She is Lily, the Word Painter, who has been given the gift of a second chance, and she will not soon forget. She smiles as she lays her brush aside. Her painting is complete.
Her mother, watching from nearby, smiles too and begins to walk toward her daughter. Lily now understands as she knew she would! She reaches Lily and they share an embrace as Lily whispers, "Thank you, Mother, for believing in me."
Lily's mother smiles at her and as she glances at Lily's painting she replies, "Thank you, my daughter, for trusting in your heart and opening yourself to the acceptance of change."
The painting sits before them, a myriad of blues symbolizing the light of life. There is the intrusion of darkness in deep blues, in black, and in the fiery anger of red, the red of defiance. Finally all the darkness begins to fade into the beautiful blues once more, the blue of life, the blue of purest truth, the blue of realization that change will come and its acceptance is possible if one believes.
"Oh Lily! Your painting is beautiful!" her mother exclaims as she packs away the paints. Lily asks to carry the painting back herself and as they begin to walk home Lily explains, "I want to hold in my hands what the Creator has placed into my heart and as the Maestro and Word Gatherer always whisper to me, 'It is good!'
Lily's mother's voice breaks as she says, "Yes, it is."
Her heart is full. Her Lily has begun to heal within her own heart. Oh yes, it is good! So very good!
