The Doll Named Haisi
Updated: Sep 8
“And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt.”Matthew 2:14
Haisi had belonged to an elderly woman who carried her through childhood as a refugee. As a toddler she was smuggled out of Vienna during the Nazi occupation. The doll was almost the only companion she had.
When Haisi arrived at the workshop she was worn. Her clothes were long gone. She was still fiercely loved. When she was returned in a new traditional dress, the owner’s voice broke. “Oh Haisi, you look wonderful. It brings back the whole of my childhood.”
Exile leaves marks on people and on the few things they manage to keep. A repaired doll cannot undo that history. It can let a woman hold her childhood again for a moment, and recognise the child who survived.
Jesus himself was taken from home in the night. Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with him so that he would not be killed. God knows what it is to be a refugee. He knows the fear of leaving, and the small objects that travel with us because they are all that is left of home.
At Mass the Church gathers people from many places. Some have crossed borders. Some still feel far from where they began. We are not asked to pretend that displacement is light. We are asked to remember that every person is known by name, and that God does not forget the child who had to run.
The doll was given back looking like herself. For her owner, that was enough to open a door into memory without erasing the years of loss. God gathers what the world tried to scatter. He will not lose the people who had to leave. One day every displaced heart will be home, and known.