Saturday, October 30, 2010

Just at the right time

At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. -Ephesians 5:20 (The Amplified Bible)

While supervising some needy repairs at our home in High Point, NC, I decided to grab a light lunch at a nearby restaurant where I ran into an old buddy of mine. I was unsure who he was until after I strolled past him on my way to the salad bar. He didn’t see me at the moment I was piling up my plate. However, I noticed that he was eating as well as he could because his coordination was out of control with; quick, sudden, momentarily wild jerking movements of the arms, face, and legs - His head turned in order to shift eye positions. His table was filled with paper napkins and fragments of food all over the place, but he didn’t seem to be bothered as others looked out of curiosity at his abnormal and unusual body movements.

In order not to startle him while he was eating, I moved around so I could look him straight in the eye and politely asked, “Don’t I know you?” His reply was, “Yep! It’s me, Thomas! How are you doing, Jones? Where have you been for all these many years?” His speech was slurred [indistinct clarity], so I had to listen carefully in order to make a reply. Motioning that I wanted to feed my face, I made a comment that we could chat a bit more later on. As I took a seat in another part of the establishment, several waitresses were frequently visiting his table inquiring if he needed anything else that they would get for him. I gazed out of the window where I was seated and observed that a taxicab was waiting just opposite the exit door and breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the driver was waiting for him to complete his meal.

It appeared that everything had been business as usual for brother Thomas. He was handicapped and all the waiters and waitresses knew who he was. In fact one of them said, “Your friend is one of the nicest people I know! I enjoy not only helping him, but I just like to hang around him as much I can whenever he comes in here. All he has to do is show up and he would be waited on hand and foot.” After a while, Thomas [with his walker] wheeled to my table and positioned himself at a distance where he could move around comfortably. We both talked briefly about the good old days when we in college at A& T; about how our families met, as well as the motorcycle he still had.

Thomas mentioned of his wife’s death in 2004, but wanted to cue me in on his present health condition. “Jones, I have Huntington’s Disease, which I inherited through my family line. I’m 69 years old, but my situation began to be noticeable when you and I were members of that Baptist Church in 1969 when I was 27 years old. By the time I reached my middle 30s, things went bad for me.”

I asked how he was able to get around and he surprised me when he said, “Look-a-here buddy, I can do practically whatever I want to! I attend the church and its activities. I can get to the drug store; to the doctor’s office; get to the grocery store; entertain my friends at the house; go to sleep; and go wherever I please. Do you see that mini-van parked in the handicapped space? It is mine…and I drive it.” I thought to myself that Thomas had to be either joking or exaggerating with the way his condition was. However, after I helped him get into his automobile and he was able to drive out of parking lot onto the street, I believed what he said.

Would you believe that I followed him for a while in my car! Even though I could see abnormal head jerks; yet, he had enough control to stop at the red light; wait for the green, and then speed away in the direction he wanted to go. Wait a minute! How could my friend be able to accomplish such a feat? I thought to myself that he shouldn’t be driving a car in his condition. He would inevitably wind up hurting himself as well as putting other motorists in danger. To tell you the truth, I’d never even heard of this kind of disease before. What is Huntington’s disease anyway?

Upon research, I discovered that Huntington’s disease is a progressive, degenerative disease that causes nerve cells in the brain to waste away. As a result, such a person may experience uncontrolled movements, emotional disturbances and mental deterioration. Huntington’s disease is an inherited disease. Signs and systems usually develop in middle age. Younger people with the disease often have a more severe case, and their systems may progress more quickly. Rarely, children may develop Huntington’s disease. Medications are available to help manage the signs and symptoms, but treatments can’t prevent the physical and mental decline associated with the condition. Thomas and I renewed old acquaintances at just the right time. He taught me that hard times are no excuses for giving up; throwing the towel, and looking for sympathy from everyone.

In his letter to the church at Ephesus (Ephesians 5: 20), the apostle Paul stressed that when you feel down, you may find it difficult to give thanks. But he says to take heart – in all things God works for our good if we love him and are called by him. Believers are to thank God, even in spite of the problems but more so for the strength he is building in them through difficult experiences in their lives. Believers can be sure that God’s perfect love will see them through.

Just at the right time, Thomas reached that point when giving thanks to God spoke louder than words could ever say. He lived it by pressing on in spite of Huntington’s disease, which was an affliction that would not crush him nor drive him to despair, but rather an opportunity to show the world that he could overcome the adversity because of the ever living Christ. Selah

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