And you put your faith in God s healing power, not in some grotesque race to a superstitious pool of water. That seems to suggest a belief that was common to Jews of that day, that physical conditions are punishment for evil doing. God once blinded Saul, who was bent on persecuting and killing Christians, because Saul refused to use his spiritual vision to see the truth. And when Saul regained his spiritual vision, God restored his physical vision. But physical impairments are not typically God s punishment for evil.
Human life is wondrous, but also fragile.
What a miracle a newborn infant is, and sometimes all the many things that must come together in the fetus do not, and a child is born without full capacities. Of course, there are times when a child is born disabled due to the sin of the parents. I m thinking of crack babies. And there are other times when a child is born disabled due to the inability of the parents. And I m thinking of a child born in extreme poverty where the mother is not able to get the nutrition or pre-natal care to keep her baby healthy.