"The pain which weakened our bodies were not able to master our hearts," Bacu said after his release. "Instead of hate, we cultivated love, understanding, and wisdom." Here is one of his poems, composed in solitary confinement in a cell infested with rats, bedbugs, and lice.
Jesus appeared in my cell last night; He was tall; he was sad, but oh he was light. The moonbeams I treasured grew suddenly dim as, startled and happy, I looked upon him.He came and he stood by the mat where I tossed and silently showed what his sufferings cost.The scars were all there, in his hands and his feet, and a wound in his side where his heart did beat. He smiled, and was gone. And I fell on the stone and cried out, "Dear Jesus, don't leave me alone." Clutching the bars, I was pierced through the palms; blessed gift, blessed scars.
A dingy prison cell and the loss of basic freedoms aren't usually the stuff of poetic inspiration. Dumitru was able to turn his sufferings into opportunities to praise God and impact other people's lives for Christ. His sufferings paled to him when he considered what Christ had suffered on his behalf. Experiencing what Dumitru faced, many believers would feel frustrated or insulted, not inspired. Some would doubt that God cared about them at all. Composing lines of poetic praise to God would be about the farthest thing from their minds. Yet Dumitru focused on Christ instead of his cell, and he was filled with praise.
How do you react in times of suffering? When you are called to suffer, will you see obstacles to your happiness or opportunities to praise and serve God?
