A few people have asked me: Why did this happen to Derya and her family?
Heck, we’ve asked that question daily. Sometimes hourly. About our own situations.
I don’t know if I have an answer for them, the friend asking me why. Falling back on what I know best, history, I have nothing but at best a possibility of a vague notion.
I would never suggest that I can interpret or know what God’s will is or isn’t. I can only interpret what I know for sure beyond my own personal faith. Personally, I think this is a path for Derya, myself and my family. We all journey down a path, sometimes that path is filled with potholes and other times it’s “Smooth Sailing”.
What I know for sure is that history is replete with examples of injustice. This travesty of justice, this suffering, and pain, these bad moments aren’t exclusive to Derya and the rest of us. Nor to our own time. Those moments of injustice, when a king has ordered an innocent to a dungeon put to death or banished. Or worse, the perpetrator of a horrendous crime is released by some central authority, freed because they were a friend to the judge or some other wealthy patrician.
Often times in the past the evil is allowed to continue because those around do nothing. And those who survive these times, like us and Derya, are made of “tough stuff”. Someone has to endure. Someone has to be the example, the lesson to learn from, the ones suffering so that others will become enraged.
However, just as in those past times, the good people who saw the injustice perpetrated became more and more upset with the abuses. As time passed, as information spread and as the injustices perpetrated against individuals spread, so did the resentment and dissatisfaction with their Lords and Masters. Just as Sir Thomas More stood up to the abuses of Henry VIII and faced the harsh death instituted by the evils of the King’s court, today we fight against the evils of ignorance and fear and unenlightened attitudes.
Now. Today. Many are becoming more and more aware of the horrors of this disease. Knowledge is overcoming that ignorance, giving us a fighting chance. As we become more aware we learn of those who are perpetrating evil against the victims of this disease.
You, the good people, who fight the good fight, know of the evil as it presents itself. Know the damage it causes. And as you spread knowledge of this disease, it shames the evils of those doing wrong as the fictional Sheriff of Nottingham was shamed for his actions. And while we’re not Robin Hood, we’re certainly the merry men and woman fighting the good fight.
As more people know of this disease, more people want to help. As more people want to help, it creates a wave of change. Keep the change coming.
A quick note about this weeks picture. The picture is from the Cloisters in NYC. It’s a picture of the statue of Saint Roch. As the caption suggests, he is the patron saint of dogs and the sick. He spent a good part of his life caring for those who needed it. He cured those with the plague and when he became infected, he was nursed back to health by the dog that licked his wounds. After his healing, he went onto healing others until he was arrested and thrown in jail.
He died a penniless pauper prisoner. A man who, while jailed, still sought to help his cellmates and care for them. A man who, despite his suffering, he still strove to do the right thing.
Couldn’t we all learn from that. Have a St. Roch kinda good day!