Double drabble: Ecstasy (M*A*S*H)
For yonmei
As a boy, Mulcahy had pored over his grainy picture of Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa until it had been confiscated as an unwholesome distraction from schoolwork. What he wanted, more than anything, was to feel the divine that strongly, to be overwhelmed and shaken. His desires took him from school to seminary to ordination. Never once did he feel that his prayers were heard. He might as well have been wrapped in cotton wool, muffled and protected.
Now, in the filth and gore of Korea, he stands alone at dawn, looking at the sunlight spear its way across the camp. The dark indistinct shapes take on form and clarity. One bright, thin ray touches him and he falls to his knees, gasping for breath. The jeeps, the olive tents, the mud -- all shine and give back the glory of God. He is filled and overflowing. He feels the divine round him, in him.
"Jesus, Jesus," he moans, borne down by the weight of God's presence.
As quickly as it came, the feeling recedes. All is as it was, but for Mulcahy, struggling to his feet, shaken, covered in mud and laughing with joy.
And the world is made anew.
As a boy, Mulcahy had pored over his grainy picture of Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa until it had been confiscated as an unwholesome distraction from schoolwork. What he wanted, more than anything, was to feel the divine that strongly, to be overwhelmed and shaken. His desires took him from school to seminary to ordination. Never once did he feel that his prayers were heard. He might as well have been wrapped in cotton wool, muffled and protected.
Now, in the filth and gore of Korea, he stands alone at dawn, looking at the sunlight spear its way across the camp. The dark indistinct shapes take on form and clarity. One bright, thin ray touches him and he falls to his knees, gasping for breath. The jeeps, the olive tents, the mud -- all shine and give back the glory of God. He is filled and overflowing. He feels the divine round him, in him.
"Jesus, Jesus," he moans, borne down by the weight of God's presence.
As quickly as it came, the feeling recedes. All is as it was, but for Mulcahy, struggling to his feet, shaken, covered in mud and laughing with joy.
And the world is made anew.