One day last week, as I was visiting someone I knew in the hospital, I had a few minutes to kill. So, I took some time to gaze out the window in the lobby to do a little people-watching. I saw an elderly man who was in one of those scooter contraptions you see advertised sometimes that allows people with physical challenges to be mobile.
It didn't look like the man could move his arms or legs very well, but he could move one of his arms well enough to operate the scooter. His ride showed up and he rolled across the pick up zone to the car. A woman, about the same age as the man, presumably his wife, sat in the driver's side seat while the man maneuvered the scooter close to the passenger side car door. It took him a couple of minutes to do that, and when he finally had the car door open, he slowly lifted the armrests and then moved one leg over to the side of the scooter, followed by the other leg. He aided his second leg with one of his arms. Then, with what looked like every ounce of energy he contained, he struggled to his feet, backed his way into the car and plopped down in the seat.
The woman got out of the car and into scooter. She maneuvered it around to the back of the car and popped the trunk open. She disassembled the scooter into two or three pieces and then used a hoist that was attached to the underside of the trunk to raise the scooter into the trunk. I watched the man as the woman handled his scooter. He kept fidgeting with his baseball cap and watching her in the passenger side mirror. I'm totally guessing here, but I kept thinking that he must have been agonizing over the fact that he needed help with such things.
And if he thought that, I can understand why, but I, on the other hand, saw a courageous man and woman who are dealing with the life God has given them. And I was moved by it. Surely it's a routine that they go through every time they leave the house or apartment together. And that makes what I saw even more sacred; two people who are totally committed to each other, doing whatever it takes to get from Point A to Point B.
I have a niece who has been wheelchair bound most of her life. Maybe that's why I notice such things. But we all know that life can change in an instant--a stroke, a car accident, a mugging, a sports injury, an unexpected spill, but until it actually happens to us, or to someone we love, we somehow think we are above it all. As if it couldn't happen to us. But it can, and at some point, it probably will.
That's not to say that we should dread such times. God has taught me much during my own difficulties and I suspect he's done the same for you. Instead, I think we ought to simply be more aware of the struggles of people around us. By all means, if we can help someone along the way, we ought to. But even if we can't help, just observing people as they attempt to slay their own dragons can be inspiring.
