Why Me?

The greatest question in the life of any disabled persons, and the reason for questioning the power of God in most unbelievers, is the matter of why bad things happen to good people.  Rabbi Harold Kushner tried to answer some of these questions in his book by the same name (Why Bad Things Happen To Good People).  I have been to the holy of holies of prayer many times in trying to find an answer to this question.  Since I have been well known on the radio and otherwise for many years, the question has been asked of me many times, not only by disabled people but the family and friends of disabled people.  I have always given the same answer, that I have asked God at least a million times, WHY ME? 

As one who has been totally blind for about 40 years, not even any retina, any light sensitivity, I hear the birds singing with their excellent eyes (the bird has a far superior eye than the human being).  I’m told of young healthy men standing on street corners, selling illegal drugs, who can spot a wart on anything at a great distance.  Outside my downtown townhouse I hear the women of the night negotiating to sell their bodies.  I know the callousness of people with whom I come in contact, who care nothing about my condition or the condition of any less than normal person, and I think of all the years I worked my way through school, stayed out of trouble, lived as decent a life as most men and I think how much good I could have done for the world if I could see.  But, I have stood in the great military cemetery in Normandy where 9,200 are buried, and the great cemetery in the Philippians where 17,900 are buried as well as military cemeteries around the world and I have had my time in VA hospitals where thousands are in wheelchairs and otherwise disabled by the act of defending their country and I have learned to accept, the sovereignty of God.  He is Boss, our only instructions are to trust Him. 

Many who contact me, are trying to get through the maze of red tape and callousness of government bureaucracy whether with veterans or other social entitlements.  The most glaring fact, I have found over the years, those who get a small stipend or pension of some sort from the government are so afraid of losing that government check by making someone mad that they just say nothing, because they know that this is on which their family must depend.  Encouragement is the oxygen for the soul, I try to give encouragement and help whenever possible. 

Those who know the grace of God, usually know the power of God and have learned not to question His authority.  God can prevent ALL bad things and we do see miracles from time to time but in the freewill opportunity that God has given the human mind, not just to be animalistic, like Eve in the Garden, who saw that the fruit was good and beautiful, we have the reasoning ability to trust that, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) 

For many years, a plate on the front of my car and my business, all have been called “miracles” because, I feel that my life has been a miracle that, in spite of everything, poverty, blindness, I have been able to give back to the world, through philanthropy and other ways, perhaps some inspiration for others.  Helen Keller, born both deaf and blind, was an inspiration for the entire 20th century as well as were many other disabled citizens. 

Read the book of Job, and you will get a better understanding of God’s presence in the activity of our lives.  The world, and certainly not politicians, will ever comprehend the strengths and abilities of those whom God has chosen not to be perfect.  Most disable people, do not use the jails, parks, concert halls, libraries, or most facilities readily available to the normal.  Yet, I’m expected to pay the same tax as those who are normal, those who have the children to be educated, those who are out on the highways driving and enjoying life. 

There was a time, since I like sunshine and fresh air also, that I would get out and walk around the block on which I live.  But, the chief of police, sent a uniformed officer (Sgt. Buster Yotes) to my house and informed me that I should stay in the house with my doors locked because it was not safe for me to be on the sidewalk in other words, the tax-paying citizens, the veteran who wore the uniform of his country, is locked up at his own expense not societies expense while the streets and sidewalks are given to the criminals.  I have told this many times, no one seemed to care, but I can advise you from listening to news reports and from the inerrant, infallible word of God, that most of you will soon be in the same dilemma, locked inside your house for safety. A country, a government, that since January 23, 1973 has made it legal to crush  and dismember its most innocent citizens, to give its most innocent citizens no human rights, to disregard the fact that the country is killing its working, productive, tax-paying citizens who will have little empathy for you, to say nothing, of the elderly who take most of the tax-payer Medicare dollars in the last years of their life.

There are two threads which run through God’s word.  One is the red thread of the saving blood of Jesus Christ.  One is the gold thread of the soon return of Jesus Christ.  300 times in the New Testament we are told of the second coming of Christ.  My encouragement to the disabled, to the disenfranchised, we are chosen to be here for a purpose and that we do the best we can with what we have been given. 

In the American experiment, next to slavery, the greatest shame of this nation is the treatment of disabled veterans and handicapped citizens. The VA does little or nothing for disabled veterans, in 1992, an act was passed by Congress called “Americans with Disabilities Act” (ADA), this has proven to be the most useless legislation ever passed by the US Congress. If you think the general public cares for the disabled, how many do you see in public places, restaurants, concerts, political gatherings, or even the church. You see, the talking is cheap, it is the walking that takes empathy. As one restaurants owner said to me (Wrightsville Beach, NC), “we do not want disabled people in our restaurant, it makes the normal feel uncomfortable.” That restaurant, Middle of the Island, is now out of business.