Loading...Dear Friends in Christ,
A wise person once said that we all have a handicap of some kind. The dictionary has two definitions of handicap. One kind is a physical, mental, or emotional condition that interferes with a person’s normal functioning. The other is a reduction in a person’s capacity to fulfill a social role as a consequence of impairment, an adequate training for the role, or other circumstance. The political correct word is impairment, not handicap.
Some impairments are obvious like blindness, loss of an arm or leg, or the scourge of my youth, polio. Some are not so obvious like dyslexia or deafness. We should always have compassion for those who are different in some way. I have to confess that when I was young, I was impatient whenever I was behind an older person, particularly going up and down stairs. I guess maybe one of my impairments is impatience. Now I am like those who I was impatient with. What about you? Are there those who you are short with or maybe a little rude to because of some known or unknown handicap? If you have been, do you suffer with what they had? Maybe that is the kind of hell we will experience.
I have always loved music. I have always loved a good movie or play, sad or funny. Now, it is hard to enjoy these things. When I was about thirty-five, I was diagnosed with a severe hearing loss. I am on my fourth or fifth set of hearing aids. They help tremendously, but I still can’t hear like I used to. I am thankful for the advances in hearing aids. I believe that developments in hearing aids, cancer cures, and other medical marvels are the miracles of today.
I was at my hearing specialist’s office last week and saw a list of the “Ten Commandments of Talking to the Hearing Impaired.” I asked for a copy. Here they are:
- Thou shalt not speak from another room
- Thou shalt not speak with your back toward the person with a hearing problem.
- Thou shalt not start speaking and turn away or walk away.
- Thou shalt not say “Never mind” or “Forget it” when asked to repeat.
- Thou shalt not speak in competition with something else (running water, TV, etc).
- Thou shalt get the attention of the person with the hearing problem before speaking.
- Thou shalt try to speak face to face at all times.
- Thou shalt remove obstructions while speaking (your hand, your cigar, etc).
- Thou shalt try to speak distinctly.
- Thou shalt try to be patient.
The last one is the one I have to work on in most situations. I am sure there are Ten Commandments for most anything we suffer with. Remember that these are people who have a handicapped or are impaired, they are not dumb. Please don’t talk down to them. Another wise man said, “But for the grace of God goes me.” And for those of us with some kind of handicap, let us remember that there is always someone worse off than we are. We can still be of great help to others. Remember these words from the old Dragnet series, “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.”
Jesus said we are to love one another, that we are to feed, clothe, and care for those who are not as well off as we are. Pray for my impatience, and I will pray for your handicap.
May God continue to bless you.
In Christ’s Love,
Father Russ
