Showing God's Glory Through Life Itself

Continuing to read through Katherine Valentine's series of books (first reviewed here) I find another difference between Valentine and Jan Karon, author of the much loved Mitford series. Although Valentine's books have a more loopy quality to their view of small town life, she is not afraid to tackle the big, difficult questions of our day. I was knocked out by the section where an expectant mother, whose pregnancy is truly a miracle to begin with, must contend with the fact that testing has shown her baby will have a very serious birth defect that will ensure a difficult life and early death. Naturally enough she is tortured by this and even though she has always been against abortion she begins wondering if it wouldn't be more humane than letting her innocent baby suffer. This is a lengthy excerpt but, as I say, I was impressed to find it in what I would normally categorize as a "fluff" book.

Where was God in all of this? What was His purpose? Why would He allow her innocent baby to suffer? If only she could understand, she might come to terms with her child's infirmity, find the courage to go on...

She knew she had no right to ask God to explain. he needn't be accountable to her, but she could not stop asking in the hope that He would give her the glimmer of insight she needed in order to find her way through this dark valley of fear and dread.

She removed a missalette from the back of the pew and turned to the day's reading. It was the story of a blind man whom Jesus healed and His disciples' response. His followers had sought to understand the reason behind the man's infirmity.

"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?"

Neither this man nor his parents sinned," Jesus said, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

She closed the book and looked across the sanctuary, lost in thought. It gave her courage to think that even the apostles had asked Jesus to explain why some are born to suffer.

She read the text again.

Jesus stated that the man's blindness was to showcase God's glory. Without the infirmity, there was no reason for the miracle, a miracle that would give people hope and belief in God's infinite compassion down through the millennium.

Slowly her doubts and fears began to give way to insight.

What if God planned someday to use her baby's handicap to bring others to a stronger place of faith? Was there a more precious gift anyone could give this world? ...

Was it possible that through her child's infirmities, others would receive similar hope? Did this mean that God someday might wish to heal her son by way of an instantaneous healing or through a medical discovery that would restore him to health? Anything was possible with God, wasn't it?

Suddenly she was reminded of a sermon Father Keene once had preached. He said that all adversity contained seeds of greatness and that every trial, every heartache, every disappointment or loss, when planted in the fertile soil of God's love, possessed the ability to grow into mountain-moving faith. And through the witness of that faith, others received hope.

Father Keene had said, "We are all born to do our Father's work here on earth, which is to share our faith in Jesus Christ. We do this through the witness of our faith and its power to overcome the world.

"So, when you experience any of life's trials, don't run from them," Father Keene had admonished. "Instead, stand firm and face it squarely, asking 'How have you come to enrich me?'"

Lori pondered these things in her heart, and slowly a spiritual shift began to take place in her soul. Her child was not a victim, a helpless cripple. He was an instrument of God's grace.

A new confidence began to grow. A conviction that somehow God would use this child to enrich His world.

Grace Will Lead Me Home: A Novel by Katherine Valentine

That is a work of fiction but here are some real life testimonies to the truth and power of Valentine's words.

• An excellent book that addresses the issue of quality of life is The Power of the Powerless: A Brother's Legacy of Love by Christopher De Vinck. This book together with the prominence of the Terri Shiavo case are what have had the greatest influence on my opinions about our utter lack of ability to really judge the quality of life for another person.
• The Imperfect are in the Image of God: Adoro te Devote's story of what she learned from working with the mentally and physically disabled.
• I'm not a saint, just a parent: also mentioned in an earlier post, this continues to impress as a father's matter-of-fact story about his family and their five year old son who has Down's Syndrome.
  

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity