#SaturdaySpotlight is on Laura-Dawn Moule & Reflections of India

Good Morning!

Hope your March has started out well. It's rainy, chilly and plain nasty here in SW Louisiana. Haven't had much sunshine at all - well, a couple of days this week. Not near enough for me though. I am definitely a summer person!

Enough about me though.

Today's guest has visited before, sharing thoughts and treasures so please welcome Laura-Dawn back with an excerpt from her book, Reflections of India....

In this fascinating book, Reflections of India: The Spiritual Journey of a Beauty Queen, you will experience everything from the exhilaration of the world of beauty pageants to the emotional lows associated with the harsh realities of life for the desperately poor. May this emotionally-charged account of a young beauty queen’s experience working in the Bombay (now known as Mumbai) and Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) slums help you discover the hope and beauty that can be found in adversity and appreciate the haunting responsibility we all share to reach out to those in distress. 

Excerpt
The Vision of Bombay
O barren plains! O deserted land!
Gusts of wind sweep dust into your residents’ lungs.
The faded colours of the flowers reflect their illness.
The air smells of sickness and death.
The putrid lakes of water
        harbour deadly disease.
Trees reflect the staleness of the ground.
The ocean rules the land and washes up grey mucous upon
        its shores
        while the red sun sets in full splendour.

The dogs howl in the eve.
The birds are afflicted by anger
        as they struggle to eat one another.
Dead mice bear the imprints of feet that have
        trampled upon them.
Cries from the people and laments from the animals are
        simultaneous.
Flies crawl across the children’s faces,
        and lice crown their heads.
Crusted nasal drainage graces their lips,
        and infected lesions are displayed upon their earlobes.

Babies lying face down on the diseased pavements;
        children who cannot cry.
Babies hold babies without mothers near.
Naked little boys peer around ragged drapes.
Their eyes reflect the misery they behold.
Sad women and edematous-bellied babies gaze.
A helpless mother watches her baby slowly die of starvation.
He can no longer pick up the pebbles with which he
        used to play.
His rags now lie lifeless on the sidewalk.

Lepers and the blind walk alone.
Despairing old men sit on the filthy streets,
        their eyes mirror years of sorrow.
Heat. Sweat. Blood. Tears.
Withered faces watch without emotional response.
You smile; they stare.
The arthritic hands scrub clothes on the street;
        the gnarled fingers work hard without payment.
Their chests move in and out in futile efforts to prolong
        life for another day.

Chants lack the spirit of joyful song.
No hope.
The silent bells of the soul ring,
        summoning death to come and relieve them.
I look up to the sky to request help but to no avail;
        it remains deaf and unfeeling to what it sees beneath it.
The screeching trains have a lingering echo,
        leaving their victims behind within the bowels of the stations.
The rats are abundant, fattened from devouring flesh.

But then Hope beckons me to come close.
“Listen,” she says, “Look and see!
I come from the hands of the minister,
        the care bestowed upon the poor by those willing to be used.
Bring the light of life into the spirits of those you serve,
        and bring sparkle to the eyes of the helpless.
Pity them not, however,
        for the question is better asked, What have you done?”

Lovely, Laura-Dawn, THANKS for sharing!

Having a creative streak from an early age, Laura-Dawn first began writing poetry and recording her prophetic dreams as a young teenager. Her literary skills were honed during the time she spent acquiring her bachelor of arts degree in English literature at McGill University in Montreal. As her interest in theology grew, she went on to write exegeses of scripture while she studied for her master of arts degree in biblical studies at the University of Sheffield. Her fascination with eschatology has continued to flourish over the years and is readily apparent in her first book, Reflections of India – The Spiritual Journey of a Beauty Queen.

Find out more by visiting her Website. Purchase her book from Amazon in print or for Kindle!

Hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll check back regularly for more Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight!

Until next time take care and God Bless.
PamT