Blinding Beauty

by Crystal Eves

One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen was a man who looked nearly dead from disease. I saw him years ago at a road race in Toronto. He was handing paper cups filled with water to the runners as they raced through the water station.

To see this man and see only his physical being was shocking. He was so thin and obviously ill that it was hard to understand why he was still alive. His face was sunken with eyes that looked like they were merely floating in their sockets. His almost transparent skin drooped on his frame, a poor camouflage for his clearly visible bones. What remained of his hair had been shaved close to his skull and he was missing most of his teeth.

He was yelling encouragement to all of the runners and when he wasn't holding water he was jumping up and down with excitement.So emaciated was he, that his upright presence seemed a defiance of the laws of nature. It was easy to imagine that he had been lying dead somewhere for days and then suddenly changed his mind, oddly to go hand out water at a charity race.

This man was almost physically non-existent, but energetically he was bigger than anyone I have ever encountered. I saw him only for a moment as I passed through his station. I remember it in slow motion, or possibly I wasn't running that fast, but it seemed to me that time slowed down when I spotted him.

There he was with a huge toothless grin on his face; obviously delighted to be there and to be participating in the event. He was yelling encouragement to all of the runners and when he wasn't holding water he was jumping up and down with excitement. There was a tangible glow of energy around him that transcending his physical being, as though he was so close to death that you could only see his spirit. And let me tell you, what a huge and blinding spirit it was.

As I ran by him I burst into tears; not because I had a rock in my shoe, not even because I felt sad for his sorry physical condition, but because I was caught off guard by the unbelievable miracle that is life. It imprinted onto the heart of a woman, who since that day believes with absolute certainty that we are more than our physical beings.Seeing this beautiful, beautiful man, I wept in the same way I wept when my children were first placed in my arms. I could cry right now just writing this.

What happened to the man's body, I don't really know. I assume he passed away and from the look of him, I imagine it wasn't long after that race. But at the time I saw him, he really wasn't his body as much as he was his energy and I do know what happened to that.

It imprinted onto the heart of a woman, who since that day believes with absolute certainty that we are more than our physical beings. It has been cherished, protected and recalled frequently and today it is offered gently to you.

I have a feeling he would have liked that.

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