Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Discern (08/12/10)
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TITLE: Secret Code Messenger | Previous Challenge Entry
By Beth Muehlhausen
08/18/10 -
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I AM DIFFERENT.
I can’t understand speech. Or gestures. Or grabby hands that clutch for my arms or shoulders as try to I wring myself free. I mostly just want to be left alone.
Others don’t understand me. Am I hungry? Bored? Happy? Afraid? I seldom laugh and even more rarely cry. I appear devoid of personality to them. A non-person.
Vision doesn’t protect me from danger. I walk off steps. Eat sand. Try to escape slippery arms in the swimming pool. Run for the road, or the cliff, or the open stove door.
My big brother can talk. He makes music. I will never talk. I can’t pound his drums or piano keys.
My two baby sisters smile and wear pink dresses. I mess my pants a lot. I will always mess my pants.
Food is exciting. I love to eat … everything. If I could, I would eat myself sick. I grab anything and everything and cram it in my mouth. Sometimes I choke. Sometimes what I eat is inedible.
Recently I had my fist seizure. Everyone panicked, and I was taken to a big hospital. I didn’t care when they poked me with a needle. I didn’t cry. Maybe someone else did.
I AM SPECIAL.
I have special needs. I have special insights.
I know you love me even when I know little else. I know it inside somewhere. Deep down. I know it when you hold my cheeks between your hands and kiss my forehead. I know it when our eyes connect for a split second, or when I wake up in the night screaming and you rock me and rub my back and give me crackers to eat.
How do I know?
It’s my secret. And I am special – remember? Shhhhhh.
I know … a … special secret. It’s a secret code.
Here’s how it works. Someone opens his heart to God’s love. Then he shares that love with me. When I receive it, the code is delivered. It spells out lots of things.
M-e-r-c-y
S-a-c-r-i-f-i-c-e
H-o-p-e
If I were genetically complete, I might do the obvious things. Sing. Or play football. Or hug my brother or sisters.
But what is a song? What is a ball? What is affection? Are those special?
I might build towers with blocks. Or wrestle. Or pick dandelions.
But what are toys? What is play? What are flowers? Are those special?
They say the tip of a chromosome is missing. Every cell in my body is lacking genetic code. There is no antidote. No fix. So I will never do the obvious things.
I will do more. I will be special.
I AM THE SECRET CODE MESSENGER.
I know the secret code. Maybe not everyone does. But I do.
The secret code is L-O-V-E. Unspeakable love. Your love. It breaks down barriers. Fills in blanks. Makes me human. Makes me divine.
I don’t know how, but I recognize love. I know IT when I know little else. I know IT when I don’t know who I am. Or who you are.
Love, unlike the obvious things, can’t be understood. Only known.
Maybe this is my gift to the world, my message from God. Maybe people caught up in the obvious things will learn the code by watching me.
L-O-V-E. Love conquers all. This is what I know.
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Note from the author:
This is a tribute to children like our grandson who are born with chromosomal deletions. While they seem clueless in so many ways, they discern one thing well: LOVE.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
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