Human Dignity
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a word about your quality of life.
We hear that phrase thrown around a lot don’t you, we talk about a certain standard of living that we prefer, that we enjoy, and we say, “You know, I have a good quality of life.” Or sometimes we speak of an elderly person languishing in a nursing home and we assume he has a poor quality of life. Well, what does that phrase really mean anyway?
Think of someone with a very severe disability. He has to be bathed and dressed and toileted. He has to be fed and pushed everywhere in a wheelchair. Someone wipes his runny nose or feeds him in a restaurant. He has to be lifted in and out of bed and turned at night. Let’s get to the heart of it: for most people that would be a poor quality of life, even beneath their dignity; trading your autonomy for a lifetime of pain, dependence and inconvenience. Most would say they had little to no quality of life. But here’s the thing: that scenario I just mentioned could be me – in fact it is me. All those things have to be done to me and for me each and every day. And let me tell you, I think I have a wonderful quality of life. Honestly, really I do. True, I have to be bathed and dressed by someone, and having to be toileted and fed and pushed around in a wheelchair, it’s not easy. Nevertheless, I think most people would say I do have a good quality of life.
So how do I maintain that perspective? Well, here’s the thing, when I get up in the morning (as difficult as it is) I need to remember in whose image I am made. I discipline myself to rehearse whose image I bear. My body may be broken, but I am a God-reflector. I mirror a God who was pleased to make me in His image. And that is what gives me human dignity – not one’s ability to walk, or use their hands, to blow their nose, or cut my own food, or toilet themselves. No, if others try to diminish my human dignity I can boast in the Lord, and His image in me. That is the reality I live in when I say (as a quadriplegic) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Christ, whose image I bear.
So, let’s get back to this quality of life thing for a minute. If we believe it’s beneath our dignity to be weak and helpless, and to have to depend on others, we operate out of pride, it’s all about pride. There is no room for pride, though, when you bear the image of God. Only humility; and nothing fosters humility more than knowing you reflect the image of Almighty God. Saint Irenaeus once said, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” Oh friend, to be fully alive, is to live for His glory. So, for the sake of God’s glory and human dignity, I get up in the morning and live for the Lord, and for other people who need to understand whose image they bear. And that’s what gives me an excellent quality of life. I live for God, and I live to serve other people. It’s what gives any life value; it’s what gives a life rich and beautiful quality. No matter how disabled you are, or how old you are or incapacitated you are. Even if you can only barely pray, you can still live for God and serve others. That is a great quality of life!
That’s the message we share at Joni and Friends, with every wheelchair we deliver to needy disabled people, with every Family Retreat that we hold. By the way, you can watch a video on this very issue today when you visit joniandfriends.org/radio. In fact, I’ll give you the DVD of the entire video; it may even enrich your “quality of life.” Just ask for your free copy of our Wheels for the World DVD at joniandfriends.org.
© Joni and Friends
