William Engle wrote this story. It was very simply told. Because of this, we felt a cold terror. It was described so clearly that we shuddered at the thought of so great a crime.

Even the fairest of all the flowers, the orchid, must weep and wait to die because of His suffering in shame for the cruelty to our Lord, and, in sorrow, He gave us all the beauty we have, all the flowers and the sunshine.

Then we cried together when Mary suffered so as she watched her Son's agony, and we cried even more because of His great compassion for her anguish.

I didn't quite understand then why He had to die like that, and Mommy didn't know either. We talked about it.

I said, "It's wrong for people to think they are better than others. It's wrong for them to think they know everything that's right or wrong. Only God knows those answers. We are all human beings, and we should treat each other as though we are all equal, no matter what color we are or what religion we believe in!"

Mommy sat and thought for a while, and then she said, slowly, "That's why Christ died, because we all have so many sins-pride, hatred, greediness, and cruelty."

Then I asked Mommy to explain more about this. How did Christ die for us? But she didn't know much more-very little.

But, all of a sudden, we wanted to tell God how sorry we were for all He suffered, and we both said something that I have never said before, and neither had Mommy, but she had tried to make God feel better that all His suffering was not in vain.

She said, "I take Thee, God, the Father, and I take Thy son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost to be with me."

"Now, say it, Linda."

I already believed and loved God. The words puzzled me because I always prayed with my faith in my heart, not in anybody else's words. I always knew God and was His child. Mommy didn't really know the Creed, but she tried to say the few words through tears to let Him know.

When I was not able to talk or to move in November, a Catholic priest came in to see me in the hospital. He came because Mommy met a woman whose husband was there and talked to her about me and the things we thought about God. The woman knew I was close to leaving.

He made a sign over me and said, "You want to get well, so you can go back to school. Right, Linda?"

I laid very still, unable to move. Then I heard him say, very low, "In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost," and he whispered some other words I didn't hear.

I was a little bit bewildered and a little frightened. I knew already, anyhow, that I would be leaving.

A few days before I left, a priest had said to Mommy, "Offer her suffering up for the good of the world, against the sin." She was standing near the elevator and he passed by her, on the fourth floor. She didn't know what he meant then, because, again, it was "offer suffering for the sins of everybody." She thought and thought about this, and always will, for she feels better if she thinks we are releasing good through accepting terrible suffering and giving it all to God, like the Tabernacle sacrifices, and the Passover Lamb.

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