Part Thirteen

 
It was heart-rending to see Him lying in the back of the car, His right leg and His right arm in casts. Adi and Meherjee were unpacking the wheelchair from the trunk. I took His hand wordlessly, then He gestured to me lovingly, "Don't be despondent!" Again, when I saw Him in the wheelchair, my heart gave another thump. But He waved my grief away. As He had said in Myrtle Beach, "God is always light hearted, even when crucified."

Kate was summoned from the front door and Baba graciously accepted the key. I had a bad moment when the mandali had decided the bed I had chosen for Baba wasn't right; they took another and bolstered it up with boards and so on to make it comfortable. I always regretted I hadn't thought to order a hospital bed.

Later, Baba and the women mandali were out in the garden. No one overlooked the garden, for Mrs. Ferris said all of her three neighbors had "unexpectedly" taken off on vacation. Baba was smiling. I studied His face. It was not the same as before the accident. Baba's nose was broken, and several teeth knocked out. But He was beautiful nevertheless. He started to tell the story of the accident. On His board, He gestured, "America was after my blood for a long time." Yes, He said it twice, with a smile, as if everything had gone just as He wished.

I was allowed to pick up His chaise lounge and wheel it around. It seemed at first touch, incredibly heavy. I thought I could never lift it. But this was an occult experience, Baba wanted to make me feel how He was the Christ, bearing the suffering of the world.

Just then Baba gestured, "The Winterfeldts!" Sure enough, a few moments later they drove in the yard. It was the first time, too, they had seen Baba since His "accident."

"Baba," Fred said, looking at Him, "Did it have to be?"

"Yes," Baba gestured, "So it ever was, and so it ever shall be!" They fell at His feet. Baba gestured to them, too, to be cheerful.

I had brought another pair of shoes, blue sneakers! Baba put on the right shoe, then signaled, I should keep them! Yes, the size 7 did fit me, but I never wore them. Somehow I felt Baba meant I was not ready yet for the Path because He wouldn't wear the shoes. Now, I see it — Baba just didn't like sneakers!

It was this afternoon, too, when He put His forefinger and thumb together in a circle of approval and called me His 102 degree lover! But any praise from Baba is only something to live up to! Also, I like to recall what Charmy said, "If Baba treats you kindly, you know you're in the kindergarten!"

Mehera was still suffering from the severe results of the accident. It had affected her sight. So one day in Myrtle Beach Baba had taken her and the other women to a small paddock where horses were exercising, because Mehera loved horses. Being so eager to see them, her eyes focused properly for the first time. Margaret, who was with them, said a stallion on the other side of the field, on seeing Baba's car, raced across the field and began climbing the fence, pawing at the window of the car. She said she had rarely seen such a definite recognition of Baba in an animal.