Edith Eva Eger, Psychologist and Holocaust survivor, tells the story of visiting two soldiers on the same day at William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss. Both were paraplegics who had lost the use of their legs in combat. The first veteran, Tom, was lying on his bed knotted into a fetal position, railing against life and his fate. The second, Chuck, was out of bed in his wheelchair, explaining that he felt as if he had been given a second chance in life. As he wheeled through the garden, he realized that he was closer to the flowers and could look right into his children’s eyes.
Auschwitz survivor Viktor Frankl said that our perspective toward life is our final and ultimate freedom. When you look at the same event from a wider perspective, your sense of worry and anxiety reduces, and you have greater joy.
The Letter of James puts it this way, “Count it joy, brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach.” James 1:2,3,5.
The month of April was a tough month for me. A mother’s fall, a friend’s death, a shooting in Winston-Salem near my sister’s home, war and violence on the world scene, there was much to be discouraged about. However, I try to have a wider perspective. When we look at the same events from a wider perspective, our sense of worry and anxiety reduces, and we have greater joy. And we know that God cries with us. God smiles with us, and we are deeply loved and precious to our God!
(Thoughts from The Book of Joy, Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, with Douglas Abrams)
Terry Hanna