I took my granddaughter to the park. She is an only child and loves to get a chance to play with other kids. She picks out a playmate and addresses him or her as “friend” all afternoon. She is….of course…..absolutely adorable.
This afternoon was unusual. There was a birthday party. All of the kids there were mentally handicapped. I met a guy named Gary. We tried to have a conversation but it was tough. His handicap was pretty severe. He kept trying to tell me something about a broken TV. It sounded like he broke it and needed to get to Best Buy.
I am getting old and am starting to notice physical limitations myself. Pretty much everybody in my family has one handicap or another. The scene got me thinking about paradise and the promise of eternity with a “perfected” body. Eternal youth, no aches, no pains, no glasses……plenty of hair. Up until today, my vision of our bodies in paradise has been focused on my “perfected body” and how great it will be to be able to run again, to see clearly, sleep soundly, and to hear well. My vision of paradise has pretty much been focused on me.
But then it occurred to me. Gary will have a perfected body too. Gary will have a normal mind. He will be able to tell me his name, walk normally, play and work…….he won’t drool anymore. He will be able to tell a joke…….and enjoy one. The human being who has been locked up inside of a broken mind for a lifetime will be set free.
I want to live my life in such a manner that I can be sure that when Gary gets to paradise he will remember me as somebody who treated him with dignity and respect while he was trapped…..in a broken body……here in this world.
My challenge today is for all of us to treat the weakest, the most marginalized members of our community, those who cannot speak for themselves with dignity and respect…….and this includes the unborn………..so that when we meet them in paradise they will greet us with a hug……..and say “do you remember the day when you sat down and had a conversation with a guy who was broken…….a guy who was pretty much helpless, a guy who could offer you nothing?
I want to be worthy to be Gary’s friend in paradise.
We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting ?”
Paul, NIV