Meet “Annie”; One of God’s Great Champions

IT MAKES SENSE TO ME

By Larry Peterson

There is a light that can never be looked upon because it is so brilliant you would be blinded forever.  This light shines inside God’s chosen ones, many of whom are marginalized and disabled. There are many of us who can sense this light and embrace those who have it.  Others ignore and sometimes, even abhor it. That light is the Love of God.

I was recently blessed when I received a letter from a woman in her thirties who had been severely injured a number of years ago and, besides physical handicaps, suffers from brain trauma (I agreed not to identify her so I will just call her “Annie”). The letter was in response to an article I had written and I wanted to share it.

 Its beauty was so profound you can actually feel and see the Hand of God himself acting as Annie’s ‘ghost” writer. It was a lengthy letter so what I post here is out of context. She is certainly one of the Chosen Ones, one of God’s invisible champions. What follows is exactly what she wrote:

“Larry, I has a prayer that I do evry morning for me.. as I humble submit evry day to the lord will and Him direckshun.. (I myself is not the look of world full beuty.. I atrophy from paralyze an very skinny (icky & sickly to some) I do understand my beuty in Elohim* eyes (an my mommah).. evry morning I ask the holy spirit to give me eyes to see how the Lord see us.. I so bless with amaze spiritual giff to see human beuty threw god eyes an ask god to reveel the forgotton ones that world full humans cast a glance an offen tern way.. cood be elderly.. poor.. differen color/accent/name.. mental/emoshunal differen.. too fat/thin.. to short/tall.. disfigure/disable... heck cood even be wrong kine of car in my hoity toity village... some thing that is... TOO... TOO.. I am grace w.Jesus eyes.. I so luck full to see in miracle way that moss can not even imajine…”

The heart and soul of this injured woman shines through her struggled words to reveal an inner beauty that only God can give, a transcendent luminescence that should keep us in awe of Him who created it.

The redemption of our souls, the essence of each of us, is always available to us. In our secular environment of today, many have come to believe that they are in charge of their own destiny. They are their own “god” and should answer to no one but themselves. However, this false religion of“Meism” is a dead end, a road to nowhere, an absolute journey to permanent hopelessness.

The handiwork of God is all around us. From the tiniest flower to the majestic mountains, to the perfection of a universe where you can know to the very second when a solar eclipse will occur and never doubt whether or not there will be 24 hours in a day, every day. Ultimately, when that day is done, you will find God’s most magnificent handiwork in the “least of His brethren.”

More from Annie:

... I use my hugs an love as extenshun of jesus if I is command & order as I believe I juss instrument an vessel for Adonai* to use... heck even thow I juss lern how read write in lass 13 year some pepel (inclue frien or famly) even make fun my English word or spelling.. that is fine by me... God understand my words both spoke an unspoken.... an all moss ever one understand kine in a smile.. a touch.. or hug.. the meanie pepel.. well.. God will deel with the meanies not me..

There are those who have demeaned,  rejected, and abused Annie many times but this physically damaged child of God harbors a love for Him that shines forth from every skinny, atrophied part of her very being and offers love, understanding, and forgiveness. How beautiful is that?

The torchbearer for the Olympic Games runs into the stadium holding high a light for all to see. Annie is the bearer of a light so bright it can never be looked upon. She is a true Champion and will one day have her Gold Medal. And it will be God Himself who gives it to her along with a great, big hug. She will have earned her place among the select ranks of God’s greatest champions.

*Elohim and *Adonai:  Hebrew names for God from the Old Testament

Picture courtesy en.wikipediacommon.org

                                       copyright©Larry Peterson 2017

Euthanasia--Celebrating the Destruction of God's Greatest Gift--Life

IT MAKES SENSE TO ME

Milou de Moor, dead at 19

By Larry Peterson       

Euthanasia (aka assisted suicide), is a pathetic concept promoted under the guise of compassion, mercy and kindness. It is no such thing. Euthanasia is not compassionate. It is not merciful. And---it is not kind. It is an abomination because it celebrates  the destruction of the greatest gift each and everyone of us has been given by God, the gift of life. 

Enter the glorification of this process via legalization. The "muckety-mucks" and sophisticates who know what is best for everyone have succeeded in having this practice legalized in Belgium, the Netherlands, the states of Oregon, Washington and Vermont and one county in New Mexico. In the state of Montana they have what we would call "de facto' euthanasia. There is no law on the books. They "just do it"---no problem. The twisted logic in this narrative called euthanasia or assisted suicide is nothing more than egotism and meism stretched to its secular limits. The fact is this; every human life is sacred unto itself. It is a gift from our Creator and we are each responsible for how we treat this gift. It is NOT up to governments and people to decide who should live or die.

Look at the photo above. Her name was Milou de Moor. Milou was stricken with lupus when she was 12. The course of the illness caused her not only pain but also mood swings, blackouts and depression. By the time she was 16 she requested to be euthanized. Life had become too hard and painful to bear any longer. And her own mother and father and sister, encouraged her to do it.

It makes sense to me that if a teenager is afflicted with an auto-immune disease and is severely depressed and requests to end her life, all she might need is the encouragement of her parents and sibling(s) to push her to finalize that request. If her doctors are telling her how painless her non-life will be and how easy it is to arrive in non-life, how easy does it become to go there. People who encourage another who is weak and vulnerable to begin with, to take his or her own life and help them to do it,  have entered into a dark celebration of nothingness. They have joined forces with others who rejoice in choosing death over life. How utterly sad that is.

There is such a thing as palliative care which  includes end of life care rather than the option of ending life. There are medications, and counselors and treatments for all types of illnesses and disabilities, Drugs for depression and severe pain are available. But what is always most important is the great intangible that you cannot see or swallow or touch. This I can attest to from experience; that  the love and support of family and friends combined with an abiding faith in the Creator of life.is the true power that transcends any celebration of nothingness.

There is a strange irony in the tragic saga of Milou de Moor. Apparently her date to be euthanzied had been set. Then at the last minute her general practitioner decided that he could not go along with her dying. When Milou heard this she ran off to her family's apple orchard and hanged herself. The parents are outraged at the doctor and are suing him for NOT killing their daughter. Think of the long term ramifications of such a thing. Will doctors now be told that they MUST take lives to spare their own careers and futures?   California is next up to bat. Their euthanasia law has been passed and it awaits Governor Brown's signature. Whatever have we wrought?

                          ©2015 Larry Peterson All  Rights Reserved

Share your thoughts about accepting differences

Please leave a comment with your ideas about how we can accept others who may be different.

Interactive Guide

Suggested Activities

1. Wear something to school that you think is ugly to see if other kids think it is ugly too. (Different viewpoints may enhance empathy.)

2. Volunteer at a local children’s hospital or rehabilitation center for interaction with kids that are “different.”

3. Implement classroom role playing activities among groups, having some kids experiment “alternative” ways of seeing, hearing and moving. (This might help develop positive changes in attitudes and perceptions of handicapped children by non-handicapped children.)

Discussion Questions

1. Have you ever had to wear something to school that made you feel embarrassed? If so, what was it? How did your peers react? Did everyone think it was ugly?

2. What would you do if you were Willie and your shoes would not come off?

3. If you were in school with Willie, and everyone was making fun of him, would you stick up for him or join the others?

4. Some people are tall, some short, some have light skin, some have dark skin, some have bigger noses or ears than others and some have different color eyes. Does this make us all different or are we all still the same?