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One of
the most memorable films I have seen is Children of a
Lesser God, starring William Hurt. It is about a teacher
(Hurt) who taught the deaf and dumb to speak even as
they lived in a world of silence. In the film, those who
are differently abled are described as “Children of of a
Lesser God.” Children created from a different mold;
children especially loved by God.
Ely grew
up in a rural society with large families. Occasionally,
there would be Children of God in these large families.
Stories have been written and films made about the
village idiot and the “mad” person shut up in the huge
mansions of the rich.
In the
words of his youngest brother, Ely was born in 1942 not
in the silence of a moonlit rural night but to the
staccato sounds of gunfire. The house of his parents was
caught in the middle of fierce gunfire between guerrilla
forces and the Japanese invaders. His father was part of
the resistance movement.
Ely,
somehow, absorbed the terror and fear that his mother
went through as they evacuated by foot from the town of
Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, to a remote mountain
village in the town of La Libertad. He grew up with an
unreasoning fear of loud noises and explosions. New Year
and fiestas did not give him the usual joy common to
all. To him, these brought unspeakable, unreasoning
terror.
Other
than his fear of explosions, Ely gave every indication
of being a bright, normal boy.
It was
only when he started going to school that his family
discovered that he could not read, no matter how much he
was tutored by his mother and old-maid aunt. This was a
great disappointment to his parents. He was often
compared with his older sister.
Ely
suffered from teasing in schools for “normal” children
until Grade 4. His youngest brother was placed in the
brightest section while he was in the very last section
for the “stupid.”
Nobody
heard of dyslexia, a reading disability, then.
He
turned to radio and television as his source of
learning. He knew all about current events, political
debates and faithfully reported everything to his
parents and siblings.
For
years, his source of socialization was the Church, which
wholeheartedly accepted him as the constant companion of
his mother, father and old-maid aunt.
When his
father suddenly died of a stroke, his world narrowed
down to his mother and maiden aunt. During the Christmas
season, he would join them in their annual visits to his
siblings in
Manila.
He loved the special treats his Manila siblings gave
him.
After
one of these holidays, he announced he was not coming
back to Dumaguete. He said he would stay with his older
sister. He must have been prescient because a few months
later, their mother died.
Fifteen
years ago, he had a series of near-fatal strokes. It was
followed by expensive hospitalizations, including a
hip-bone replacement. The bills started
escalating—caregivers had to be flown from Dumaguete,
expensive medications bought, hospital and doctors’
bills settled.
The
sister decided to bring him to her home in Valencia,
Negros Oriental.
Last
November, he was hospitalized again and stayed for three
weeks in the ICU. The family went heavily into debt to
insure medical attention and comfort for him. He was
brought out of the hospital to spend his last days in
Valencia. He died last week and was buried three days
later.
Why
children of God?
The
sister has often wondered: Why are there Children of God
who spend their lives harassed and humiliated because
they are different? Why must they suffer from multiple
illnesses which eventually end their lives after so much
pain? Others ask: What is the point of bringing up
Children of God, who, because of their affliction, can’t
contribute anyway to society in a meaningful way?
Children
of God as gifts of grace
It took
Ely’s life and death to make the sister and siblings
realize that Children of God are His gifts of grace.
Actually, they are not really Children of a Lesser God.
They are Children of the Great God Himself. The grace of
loving and serving selflessly without expectation of
return. The opportunity to give unstintingly without
hope of repayment from one who can’t pay—isn’t this what
God’s love is all about?
To
families who have to care for Children of God, be
grateful for His Gift of grace. Be grateful for the
chance to love, care for and serve. |
