Knock On Wood

I was listening to another podcast I recently discovered.  It is called "Enduring it Well" and each episode is an interview with someone who has faced tremendous challenges and yet has moved on to the rest of their life.

I listened to Mr. and Mrs. Smart, who spoke of the nine months their daughter Elizabeth was gone after being abducted from her bedroom at knife point by a crazed, religious zealot.  Another was of a mother whose daughter died at 5 years old of spinal meningitis after some really big goofs by the hospital staff where she was being treated.  And the first in the series was the program's host who spoke of  his four children, each with muscular dystrophy, and of loosing two of them to the disease so far.  These are heart breaking situations.

"Why," you may ask "does she listen to this stuff by choice? Perhaps she is a little sadistic."

Actually, the best part of these stories is the increase in faith and hope that each individual has shared.  They have felt the love of God in their lives and have seen miracles happen--not just the obvious miracles, like Elizabeth being returned to her family, but the little miracles of being able to continue after the loss of a child, or the hope that comes from with faith in God for better things to come.

This morning I sat listening to the first half of a story of a young dancer who became a C7 paraplegic after a misstep sent her tumbling 35 feet off an embankment.  She acknowledge how much she missed dancing, jumping, walking, but that her injuries have also brought her increased awareness of others' pain and suffering.  Her empathy has grown to something she never would have imagined had she not faced similar challenges herself.

I live a pretty charmed life.  My health, generally, is really good.  Could I loose some 20 pounds or so and feel even better?  Sure.  But is the weight issue a life or death situation though?  No way.  My family is fairly secure and happy.  Are there troubles and bumps in the road together?  Absolutely.  Could we do better in our communication and help each other more?  Of course.  My work as a PTA volunteer, of course, pays nothing--in fact, it costs me--but I enjoy what I do (most of the time) and see the benefits to my own kids and all the students I get to work with.  Will I ever get rich, or famous, or even promoted doing this?  Not a chance.

After hearing these folks share their challenges and the lessons they have learned from them, I wondered to myself if I have had enough experiences to really understand what it is to be charitable.  Or sympathetic. Or innately kind.  Ultimately I would like to be considered each of this things when my life comes to a close on earth.  Will those I care most about really know how loved they are by my regular daily actions or choices?  Will others see what I truly value based on my actions and choices?  Will I leave a legacy of love and service for those that come after me from what I have done and taught and modeled in my choices, actions, and attitudes?  I hope so.

I also hope that I can be wise enough to learn these characteristics without having to endure the lessons that teach those things directly.  I hope I can learn them by watching others who I know are going through them and that I can follow the examples of the good people I see every day, without having to have all their personal trials myself.  My own bucket of issues feel like they are enough for me at this point.  My own lessons, learned by my own mistakes, trials and discouragements are enough to fill my plate.  But I hope I can observe and see the lessons they learn and, in turn, vicariously apply the lessons from their actions and choices.

Knock on wood, I don't have to go through what everyone else must go through to learn what they are learning.  I hope I am wise enough to watch and learn from a safe distance.  But I am afraid I am a slow learner sometimes and the quickest way to figure it out is by my own lessons.  But I hope not.