Powerful Message

Many years ago I was browsing the isles of our public library, looking for something new to occupy my restless mind. The Power of the Powerless seemed to be illuminated on the shelf. I couldn't resist the title and cover. Flashbacks of regularly visiting a home for the disabled with my mother came to mind. I am convinced that this loving encounter with the weak and vulnerable of our community was a childhood gift to prepare me for my future marriage. When my dear husband first spoke of marriage, he was not sure how I would accept the fact that there was a genetic issue which affected the neurological development of 4 of his siblings. I asked him if he loved any of them less because of their challenges. "Of course not," he answered. Then it was settled. We could be married and open to children, if God so willed.



While revisiting these thoughts in the nonfiction aisle of the library, I was drawn to this book created by a New Jersey school teacher. The Power of the Powerless was actually a collection of letters and essays sent to Christopher De Vink in response to an article he had written about his brother, Oliver.

Even now, five years after his death from pneumonia on March 12, 1980, Oliver still remains the weakest, most helpless human being I ever met, and yet he was one of the most powerful human beings I ever met. He could do absolutely nothing except breathe, sleep, eat, and yet he was responsible for action, love, courage, insight. When I was small my mother would say, "Isn't it wonderful that you can see?" And once she said, "When you go to heaven, Oliver will run to you, embrace you, and the first thing he will say is 'Thank you."' I remember, too, my mother explaining to me that we were blessed with Oliver in ways that were not clear to her at first.

The stories deeply moved and inspired me to make a stronger stand for life. Just recently, I had recommended the book to my teenage daughters, and decided it was time to write a post to review the book. Amazingly this article by Sandy Rios found its way into my inbox. Timely! It is worth following the link to read the entire piece.

Sandy Rios writes:
".......In attempt to breed the Aryan race, the Nazis began a systematic extermination of "useless eaters." Videos were produced to illustrate the horrors of the disabled and thousands were led to their death with the approval of the German citizenry. One notable exception was Dietrich ohhoeffer, a pastor later hanged to death with a piano wire for opposing the Nazis. In the face of the Aryan tide he penned these words: "Not only do the weak need the strong, but the strong need the weak."




"... Sarah Palin gets it. That's why she and husband Todd chose not to abort baby Trig in spite of his alleged imperfections. To some, he is a "useless eater." He will never win the snow machine race his father is famous for or be mayor or governor of anything, but Sarah and Todd know the value of his life in ways that can never be explained to a man like Barack Obama. A baby like Trig is a precious life. And the baby carried by his sister is not punishment. In his book The Power of the Powerless, Christopher De Vinck tells the story of his severely disabled brother, Oliver. As Christopher grew older and began dating, he brought his girlfriend to the family farmhouse and eventually asked if she would like to meet Oliver. Since Oliver lived on the top floor and had to be fed and diapered by family members, the first girl said a polite "no." The next girl, however, said, "Yes!"...climbed the stairs, crawled up on the bed with Oliver and proceeded to patiently spoon feed him. "

I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live: And that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days,)

Do you think that the time has come for us, as a society, to choose which side we will embrace? Are we being called off of the fence to decide our fate as a nation? No more time for apathy, relativism, or indifference.

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold, nor hot. I would thou wert cold, or hot. But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest: I am rich, and made wealthy, and have need of nothing: and knowest not, that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.