Easter Miracle

I thought of him today - and could still hear his words ringing in my ears, even though it's been several years since I've seen him..

His name was Sam; he was 7 yrs old.

He came to the hospital for what was to have been a routine, 10 minute, same day surgery procedure on his eye.

What the nurses discovered however as they helped him undress for the operating room was anything but routine.

Bruises - of all ages and colors; loop marks, cigarette burns, old scars and new welts covering every surface of his small body, including the bottoms of his feet.

With the nurses discovery, events took on a life of their own - as they do in these cases.

Social services was contacted; family members interviewed and law enforcement notified.

Paperwork was done taking Sam into protective custody, preventing any further contact with the people with whom he'd been living.

Sam was rushed to x-ray and photographed, literally inside and out.

He was subjected to rounds of lab sticks, moved from pre-op to Emergency and, then finally, to the Intensive Care unit.

He had been beaten so badly for so long that muscle tissue had started to breakdown, affecting both his kidney and liver function.

Through the long morning, Sam, although cooperative, had lain mute, his eyes tightly closed. For hours, while staff and circumstances swirled around him, he remained steadfast in his refusal to acknowledge anyones presence.

Up in Intensive Care, there was finally a lull.

As the room cleared out, I pulled up a chair.

I told him that I was just going to sit there with him for a while; we didn't need to talk but I suspected he might have felt alone for a long time.

I thanked him for being so patient with all that had gone on that morning and I said I hoped, as he felt better, he could find the courage to let someone know what he had gone through.

At that point, he opened his eyes and, staring directly into mine, replied "What I know hurts".

While I suspect few of us have experienced Sams' physical reality, I know that most of us can relate to the feeling; we've had our own moments in which failing bodies, broken relationships or wounded hearts have brought us to cry that what WE know of the world hurts.

You don't have to have my job to see evidence, almost daily, that human beings are capable of making really lousy choices.

Simply listening to one newscast a day offers ample proof.

I sometimes think that giving us free will was Gods biggest design error.

But God had a choice too.

And I think Easter is a day we celebrate because we have a God who loves us SO much that He wasn't willing to let us stay alone in the messes that our choices create.

He sent his son and because Jesus was one of us, there is nothing in our human experience that is alien to God.

Nothing about our lives or who we are is beyond his understanding and mercy.

On this day, we celebrate our reality that not even death can separate us from the love of God.

If that's not reason to rejoice, I don't know what is!

I DO know that Sam was adopted by one of the nurses who had been in the OR that day and that, by all accounts, he's thriving, physically and emotionally.

This is a day to believe that miracles DO happen!

Happy Easter!