I learned an extremely important life lesson yesterday.
So, here we go…
I heard a story– a tragic story– where a young teen spirals out of control behaviorally until one day, he ends up in a car accident. He almost died and though he’s alive, and out of the ICU, he has such severe brain damage that he’s mentally and physically disabled.
I thought I’d write about this story. I changed names and didn’t parallel everything. I added all of my own narrative, talking in the voice of an adolescent. It was a nicely written piece of fiction. But it ended with him in the hospital; and it was sad, raw.
I happened to discover a blog that this young man’s family is keeping. And I was incredibly impressed by it. They have faith, and are all about doing what is right. They never leave his side and are doing both naturopathic and medical treatment. They are actively praying for a miracle, and they’re holding post with nothing short of a belief in complete recovery.
It was their faith that moved me.
I knew I had to delete my piece of fiction– not because it was necessarily offensive or hurtful… but because I wanted to have faith, too.
I want to believe in a miracle.
Once I made this decision, I was nowhere near a computer. I couldn’t wait to take the piece down. I was sort of sad because I had really put energy into this piece. I had really thought it out, and I think it was a pretty good piece of work– considering that I’ve never really written fiction before. I couldn’t wait, though. I made a phone call and asked my guy to remove it for me.
So, the lesson was about love and faith. It was about one boy meaning the world to his family– regardless of the challenges he had presented them prior to the major life changing accident. It’s a tragic story, because I think it exposes a parent’s greatest fear– that their child, whose behavior is outside of their control, may do something or be put into a dangerous situation. It’s a raw fear– one that I cannot even begin to truly understand. But it goes beyond the tragedy and reminds me that there is LIFE outside of tragedy. For every significant change– loss, even– there is a great lesson. And if this young man’s life, and the faith of his family, can teach any one of us– ME, and doubtless many others that our experience can be filled with so much love and hope… well the lesson has been shared.
The story has touched my soul. It reminds me of why I despise so much of our culture’s media. I was focused on tragedy, whereas I should have been focused on a miracle. On faith. On pure faith that moves mountains.
It doesn’t have to be a faith associated with any particular God/Goddess/religion. You just have to believe in miracles.
Without hope, one is lost. With it, you can have, be, and do whatever you can dream of.
Leave a Reply
:x 
:cry: 
8-) 
:wink:
Recent Comments