Meeting Q again

- Hi Q.
- Hi Boss, seems a long time since we last spoke.
- Yes Q (the Boss clears his throat rather uncomfortably.
- But good to see you here again…. What’s happening?
- Hm, I have this friend Sarah who has this weird illness and overnight she has become bed ridden and pumped full of steroids. It’s shocking to see here like this – I called in on her last week…
- Oh, that sounds horrible.
- Yes, it seems so wrong. She is a good woman, and has done a lot for other people. It’s not fair.
Q sighs.
- We’ve been here before.
- I know but it does not make it any easier and it does not make it any better. (The Boss was speaking slowly and deliberately.)
- Can you change things for her by act of will?
- No of course not!
- So the hard facts of your friend Sarah’s illness remain.
- Yes unless there is some medical breakthrough.
- So how can you live in a world in which people like Sarah suffers?
- Yes, that’s it…. How!
- Well it is how it is. (Q spoke with a soft voice.)
- And?
- And?
- Yes and… Stop sounding like a damn Buddhist monk and give me some solace!
- So it’s solace you want?
- Yes… er… No… I…er… want Sarah to be well.
- I know… I do understand but somehow you have to make your peace with how things are.
The Boss was weeping angry tears by now,
- I’m not strong enough for this suffering world!
- You’re stronger than you think…. And you don’t have to do it alone.
The Boss nods his head and buried his face in his hands.

There was no obvious way out of his dilemmas but its grip on him was easing. Suffering was not going to end in our world. Sarah was putting on a brave and courageous face and even with her illness she was still a force for good in a world that was too often indifferent.