Milford chronicle., 1958-02-14
Musings OF A Minister
Recorded Weekly by
EDWARD KUHLMAkS. ID. ID.
GARLANDING OUR CLUTCHES

II used to feel abused because 4
had no shoes
Until / chaneed to meet a man who
had no feet.o
Jimmy was a newsboy whose
initiative and friehdliness had
gained for him the high regard of
many who purchased their papers
from him at the corner of a busy
city street. Then tragedy came.
Running amuck, the car of a drunk
en- driver struck Jimmy and so
seriously crushed one of his legs
that It needed to be amputated.
This meant that hereafter he<must
vend his wares leaning on a crutch.
Weary weeks dragged by. Final
ly, after protracted period or
disqualification. Jimmy returned
to his stand Hobbling to his usual
| place, he at once became the cyno-
sure of the eyes of those who had
been accustomed to buying their
papers from him. Many stopped to
voice words of friendly sympathy.
Jimmy said little but thought much.
A close observer might have noted
resolve of courage in the set of
his chin.
The following day, when Jimmy
returned to his work, passers-by
were quick to note that he had
wreathed his crutch with flowers
No one asked what the flowers
meant, they understood. In this ges-
ture they recognized an uncon-
querable soul vowing to wrest vic
tory from crushing handicap.
Betty was a stenographer, one of
many in metropolitan Office. At
tractive? Yes, but unfortunately
she had been born with a deep-red
discOlcration on one side of her
face. But this birthmark was not
the reason that one noticed her. 1t
was because her figure was erect,
her carriage graceful. her gar
ments chic. her collars and her
he ldkerchiefs spotlessly white, her
hair and her hands, carefully cared
for. By metuculous attention to
daintiness and good grooming her
unconquerable soul countenanced no
thought of defeat on account of any
| initial handicap. Like Jimmy, she
had caught that intrepidity of spirit
Henley expresses so tellingly in his
poem 'In victus" when he writes:
In the fell clutch of circumstance
have not WINGED or cried aloud.
Under the bludgeon;ngs of chance
My head is bloody but unbowed.
ALI this aims to give accent to
the thought that handicaps some
times have their compensationS,
compensations able to translate re-
tarding milestones into milestones
of achievement. Jimmy's loss deep
ened his resolve to accept nothing
less from life than the fullest at
tainment of his chosen goal. Betty's
birthmark melted her to cultivate
all the latent faculties of her per-
sonality to such excellence that
natures unkindness to her would
be forgotten. It made her to make
herself such a paragon of poise
and careful grooming that her pop
ularity was exceeded by few in the
circles in which she moved
An incident in the life of Ole
Bull, master violinist, comes to
mind. Playing concert before a
distinguished assemblage, his A
string snapped. Without moments
hesitation he transposed the COM
position and finished brilliantly on
three strings.
Life is like that-our 4 strings
snap. Milton goes blind, Beethoven
loses his hearing, Pasteur becomes
a paralytic' at forty-six. Paul has
hi nh ao1
infirmity of some kind-and Helen
Keller is born deaf. dumb and blind.
Were they defeated? Absolutely not.
They adjusted themselves to their
handicaps and made them instru-
ments of victory. They made their
three strings enough to play such
sweet melodies of achievement that
the world acclaims them to be great.
1t takes courage. you say, to
master ones handicaps like this.
1t does indeed, courage born of a
deep faith. you will not" writes
Fosdick in his Power to See it
Through, get this quality of life
out of the atheistic cults some are
trying to substitute for profound
religion. If you say there are hours
when you hate your handicaps, quite
so! Even Christ prayed against the
cross. To die at thirtv-three on a
cross is a handicap. eff it be poss-
ible. let this cup pass from me" he
prayed three times. But as it turned
out in the end, no cross meant no
Christ That cross was his most
shining instrument. My friends. it
was not the Greek Apollo. char
ioteer of the victorious sun. who
won the world. IT was the handi-
capped and crucified Christ.