A reader asked me: what can I do to overcome my debilitating ailments?
This is my answer…..
Jesus was asked the same thing: in John 9
“…… as Jesus walked along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.
‘Master, whose sin caused this man’s blindness?’ asked the disciples, ‘his own or his parents’?’
‘He was not born blind because of his own sin or that of his parents,’ returned Jesus, ‘but to show the power of God at work in him”.
This startling answer doesn’t make sense to many people.
Surely, such a restricting affliction can never be the gift of God!!!
But let us ask…..”Why not”?
Is a “perfect body” somehow ‘holier’ than that of a man with one leg or a woman with one arm?
Is a “healthy body” somehow closer to the Divine than someone (such as me) with dozens of growing tumours, TB destroyed lungs, gallstones, occasional tia’s, tga’s and blind in one eye??
Is the person with a “great body” somehow further along the path of enlightenment?
Can cosmetic surgery, bicep growth, penile implants, Olympic fitness get you to the front of the queue at ‘heaven’s door’?
Or maybe, just maybe…..it’s not our ailments that are the source of our negativity – but our attitude toward those ‘ailments’…..
Maybe our ‘ailments’ are themselves gifts.
My total blindness for 6 months allowed me to develop my spiritual connections.
My long-term partial blindness allows me to focus far more “within”…..
My tumours (I looked like the ‘Elephant Man’ when young) encouraged me to recognise that life wasn’t about achieving a beautiful body but rather about expressing my beautiful God-centred soul…..
I’m sure you can think of many gifts you have yourself received via your challenges and hardships!
Write them down, study them – and appreciate each gift!!
Many years ago, a little girl was totally blind.
She was blinded as an infant as the result of an accident.
She lived to be over 90 years old.
She became a saint of the American Christian church.
She wrote many popular Christian songs and choruses.
Her name was Fanny Crosby.
When she was only 8-years-old, she wrote:
“Oh, what a happy child I am, although I cannot see.
I am resolved that in this world, contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy that other people don’t.
To weep and sigh because I’m blind—
I cannot and I won’t”.
The list of inspirational people who were “dis-abled” is astounding!!!
Helen Keller
Ray Charles
Louis Braille
James Thurber
John Milton
Jorge Borges
Etc….etc….etc…..
So often, those people we call “dis-abled” are more correctly simply “diff-erently-abled” and shine beautiful loving light into the world.
(Trudi’s son, Nicholas, is a perfect example as many of you know).
The truly disabled are those who are disconnected from their heart!!
May we each avoid such a truly disabling disconnection!!!!!
Blessings and hugs,
Les