"I was recognizably human; I had at least the usual complement of legs and arms, but I might have been some shameful piece of garbage. There was something indecent about the way in which I was being furtively shuffled out of life."
~ Peter Greaves, a leprosy patient
From the book The Gift of Pain by Dr. Paul Brand
Washing the feet of the leprosy afflicted is a tender moment and a special opportunity. For a few moments I held in my hands the awful, physical effects of the disease as I dealt with disfigured limbs and open sore wounds. But in those few moments I also made a very clear and distinct statement of compassion. Instead of shunning away from the individual and treating them as something less than human, I embraced them. I picked up the despised piece of flesh and gently washed it without shame or disgust. My hands became healing hands, comforting hands and accepting hands for a human being.
Love is the best medicine we can provide to these individuals. In one of the colonies we met our last patient of the day named Joseph. He was a strong believing Christian who spent his entire day singing hymns and praying. Joseph was also blind and almost completely deaf. Both feet had been amputated and he generally moved around using the palms of his hands. Joel and I helped lift the man from his house to a wheelchair so that we could more easily transport him to the ulcer care centers. His ulcers were on the palms of his disfigured hands.
The entire time that we pushed him to the different ulcer care stations and cleaned his wounds it seemed that he didn't even notice our existence and what we were doing. He just continued to sing and pray. After he was all taken care of and wrapped up it was time to take him back to his home. Joel and I once again picked him up out of the wheelchair. We placed him in front of his house so that he could enjoy the breeze. As we began to walk away we heard him say in clear and perfect English, "Thank-you."
Hearing those words had an astounding affect on me, it was difficult to hold back the tears. Despite the poor living conditions and poor health of this man, he showed gratitude to our attempt to make his life better. For a man who might be considered to have nothing, he still found something to be grateful for and found a way to express it. How much more do I need to be grateful for all of the blessings I have in my life, including the gift of pain. The gift of pain allows us to recognize when something is wrong and fix it before more serious problems occur. One of the reasons leprosy is such an awful disease is due to the fact that the leprosy patients eventually lose the ability to feel pain and thus continue to stand in a place without shifting causing ulcers or step on a nail without feeling it and only realizing it days later when the foot has been grossly infected. Thanks to the gift of pain, we can maintain a healthy existence and yet it is a gift we often despise and wish did not exist.
Love is the best medicine we can provide to these individuals. In one of the colonies we met our last patient of the day named Joseph. He was a strong believing Christian who spent his entire day singing hymns and praying. Joseph was also blind and almost completely deaf. Both feet had been amputated and he generally moved around using the palms of his hands. Joel and I helped lift the man from his house to a wheelchair so that we could more easily transport him to the ulcer care centers. His ulcers were on the palms of his disfigured hands.
Hearing those words had an astounding affect on me, it was difficult to hold back the tears. Despite the poor living conditions and poor health of this man, he showed gratitude to our attempt to make his life better. For a man who might be considered to have nothing, he still found something to be grateful for and found a way to express it. How much more do I need to be grateful for all of the blessings I have in my life, including the gift of pain. The gift of pain allows us to recognize when something is wrong and fix it before more serious problems occur. One of the reasons leprosy is such an awful disease is due to the fact that the leprosy patients eventually lose the ability to feel pain and thus continue to stand in a place without shifting causing ulcers or step on a nail without feeling it and only realizing it days later when the foot has been grossly infected. Thanks to the gift of pain, we can maintain a healthy existence and yet it is a gift we often despise and wish did not exist.
