Henri Nouwen wrote a book called the WOUNDED HEALER. The thesis of the book focuses on the transformation of suffering and pain to the healing of one's self and service to others. In another book, THE ROAD TO DAY BREAK, Nouwen develops this theme more. He writes of his experiences working with mentally handicapped people and how transforming that experience was for him. We hear and read about wounded healers all through history, some famous, some not so famous. There are millions of wounded healers we never hear about who have by the grace of divine intervention have transformed their experiences of suffering into great acts of service and kindness to other people. I have written about the Roloff family in this blog once before but I feel compelled to sing Matt's praises yet again.
Matt made a trip to Iraq some time in 2008 to visit a family with three children who suffer from a crippling form of dwarfism. He braved the territory and traveled to Iraq to meet this little family. This family has three children, one of which is 13 years old and almost completely unable to move on her own. It is heart breaking to see her. She has two younger siblings a boy and a girl who are also dwarfs, in need of surgery as well. Watching Matt risk his own life to travel to meet these children and to connect them up with a doctor who has performed surgery on his own son, Zach, (who is a really neat person by the way!) exemplifies just how caring Matt is. The first trip to Iraq proved to be frustrating in that they were held over for several days and the doctor had to return to Ca. because he had surgeries scheduled. So Matt met with the family and arranged for the children to have X-rays and photos that he could take back to Dr. Hoffinger (I think that was his name) to make a proper diagnosis. That was the first trip to Iraq.
Last night I viewed the season opener of Little People, Big World, and Matt was on his way back to Iraq with both Dr. Hoffinger and Dr. Austin, an anesthesiologist to perform surgery on the two younger children. ( I hope the older one got care too, but we don't hear about that child) We journey with Matt who is traveling with soldiers with guns for protection. But they all arrive safely, thank God, and they meet the family again and then we get to enter the OR while surgery is successfully performed on the two younger children. The first surgery went quickly and well, while the second took seven hours. To watch the surgery, I confess I had to turn my head, couldn't handle the graphics of it. But watching Matt sit with the children prior and after the surgery was so sweet to see. His tenderness and care for these children touched my heart.
Matt has complete empathy for these children, as he as a dwarf spent years of his childhood in a hospital; Shriner's Hospital to be exact. While his siblings and other young children were out playing, Matt was in a huge cast to correct his legs. He talks about this on the show as well as in his book, AGAINST TALL ODDS what his childhood was like, practically living in a hospital. He missed being able to run around and play sports doing all the things other boys his age were able to do. He had parents that instilled in him he was as capable and as intelligent as any kid his age, even if he couldn't get out and run around playing soccer or baseball. Deep in Matt's being he learned and came to believe that he was a valuable person, even if he had a little body.
He grew up and met a lovely little person, married her and followed his dreams. All you have to do is see their beautiful home and farm to see how he has provided for his family. He has said many times, I wanted to provide for my children the childhood I couldn't have. He says he and his wife Amy work to encourage his own kids, to work hard and never give up on their dreams. What touches me even more about Matt, is that he has taken his dream and shared it not only across the Atlantic Ocean but to the OTHER SIDE of the world in a very dangerous country. That is powerful. That is God at work, in my book.
The point of this blog entry is that Matt is an example of many people who have taken their suffering and somehow divinely allowed that suffering to transform into something that helps and enriches other lives. There are many Matts in the world who have come through a lot of pain, grief, and suffering in their lives and they have grown through the difficulty into not just productive people but angels on earth who help other people with their suffering.
I guess that was why I went into the ministry. A big reason I did was that I wanted to make sense of the suffering I experienced as a kid and help others in their own pain. Of course none of us does anything 100% altruistically, but I can definitely say without doing something that is fulfilling, life can be harder than it has to be.
I am grateful to see, hear or watch people transformed reaching out to others. That is hopeful sign for the human race. It is good to know there are many wounded healing angels in the world.
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