I just reread a journal from around Pesach time, and I found something I had written after going to Kever Shmuel HaNavi.
As I sat at the kever reading Parshas Chana, two images stood out to me, something like bookends to the story of Chana and her son.
The first was the image of Chana at the beginning of the story. She was in so much pain, the Navi says she couldn’t eat. She davened without a voice. Only her lips moved.
The second was the image of the kever itself where I sat, with a blue velvet mantel draped over, embroidered with the words “el hana’ar hazeh hispalalti, vayiten Hashem li es sheilasi asher sha’alti mei’imo.” For this child I prayed, and Hashem has given me my request that I asked of Him.
Could Chana have possibly imagined that she was praying for this child, who would be a navi, who would anoint two kings, and who would have thousands of people visiting his kever each year to daven? When she was in such pain, and barely able to daven, did she know what was waiting for her?
How little we know about what’s waiting just beyond our present reality. As I heard from Dina Schoonmaker, we don’t know the end of the story but our neshama already does. And the ending is good, because Hashem Who loves us is happy with the ending.
What are the images that will bookend your story?
