The words and actions of a mute and cripple.

Have you ever had a moment where your world was turned upside down? Your whole perception of who you were and why you were here was changed? Well I had one of those moments.


I read a story about an English writer, and his brother. His brother, named Oliver, was severely crippled from birth. He was blind and mute, his legs were twisted, his head and chest too large for his ten year old sized body. When this boy’s parents discovered his disabilities, they took him to a doctor. The doctor informed them that there was nothing he could do for the boy.

Most parents at this point would have considered Oliver’s life not worth living. Our society has judged our value, our quality of living by what we contribute to society. Such a debilitated boy such as Oliver would not be considered worthy of living by many people in our country today. But here Oliver’s parents broke the mold.

They took Oliver home. They cared for him and nurtured him. The writer, Oliver’s brother, tells about life at home. They loved Oliver. They fed him and they talked to him. They tickled him and made him laugh. But Oliver could never respond. Can you imagine the heartache? You love someone, you would die for them, but they couldn’t ever say anything back. This would have sent me to bed crying more than one night. How does one cope with something like this?

So far reading this story, though I considered it sad, still had a kind of disconnected sense that we all seem to have, when we read or hear about tragedy. My inability to connect has often frustrated me. I tell myself when I hear about a murder I think; that person DIED! Why can’t I feel what God feels? But I think God has made each and every one of us to be touched in different ways. If you find yourself in my position, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t feel as sad as you think you should. If you’re open to it, God will touch your heart when he wants it to be touched.

So back to our question, how does one cope with a situation like this? Well I think the answer comes in what Oliver’s mother told his brother: “When you go to heaven, Oliver will run to you, embrace you, and the first thing he will say is ‘thank you’”.

Few things in my life have ripped my heart apart like what his mother said. I spent half an hour in my bathroom curled up in a ball, crying. I cried on my mom’s shoulder while she read it. I couldn’t finish my school. This poor, crippled boy, who couldn’t speak, had reached out to my heart, gripped it, and twisted it. It hurt, but at the same time I wanted it to happen, I knew I needed this change.

There are a lot of lessons we could learn from this story. We could talk about abortion, we could talk about the value of life and how we determine it. All of them good subjects to discuss, but our tendancy seems to always be on what's wrong with the world around us, and rarely what's wrong with us. I think we need to look at our own hearts, and ask ourselves a question that I hope will change the way we live: is anyone going to tell us thank you?





In Christ’s love, Aaron