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I lived for 75 years before I ever sat in a wheelchair, so I have much good health to be thankful for. But in the last three years because of Parkinson's and serious surgery, I have become one of those people just grateful that such chairs exist. Joining the world of the disabled (or as my American friends call it, the handicapped) is a sobering experience. First of all, I had to learn to wait! And that comes hard for me. I used to travel over 100,000 miles a year to preach and teach, handling all the details myself. Sometimes I now have to wait for someone else's help just to move an inch! I often get the feeling that Jesus' prophetic word to Simon Peter, that one day someone would have to carry him around, applies to me.  Then I rediscovered a small word that meant little to me before. "Carer." This is the precious other person who cares enough to do the pushing. And along with the pushing goes the caring for all kinds of things that I once took for granted, like dressing, eating, writing and a host of things that get dropped and have to be picked up. In years past I have flown the Atlantic and preached in New York the same night. But now it can feel like a day's work just getting in and out of a car. And, of course, someone else has to care enough to do the driving.
When Jesus told the wonderful story of the good Samaritan, he forever made noble the carers who come to the rescue, bind and dress wounds, sacrifice their own comforts, pay out of their own pockets and just be there to sympathise. The definition of sympathise is "to suffer with," which means that I don't have Parkinson's disease alone. Lena, my wife, has it too! We are called upon and commanded to pray for the sick. But let us also remember to intercede for the noble band who watch, work and weary themselves for others. The giving of a cup of cold water has been replaced by a cup of tea or coffee, or an arm to lean on, but the Lord's promise of blessing still applies. By the way, I have given up trying to explain the mysteries of suffering because it is all too bewildering! I have to preach from a chair and rejoice in the experience of Saint Paul who sought answers for his affliction and heard the Lord say: "My grace is sufficient for you." |
