Putting Religion Back into School

You know when you find yourself getting so caught up in all that has been going wrong rather than what is going well? In the last few weeks it seems like there has been way too much to do in not enough time, and way too much of it wasn't going the way I had hoped. In my first class on Monday we went over our midterms. Unfortunately, it all made sense after we went over it, and I didn't do nearly as well as I had hoped (luckily it doesn't influence our grade as much as I had thought it would). It became just another item on the list of things that were influencing my stress level. I went to my classes with anything but a positive attitude, but that all change when I went into my last class of the day: Human Exceptionality.
Originally I took this class because it counts for two requirements and I figured who cares what class it is...you might as well hit two birds with one stone! But this class has been one of my favorites. It is about people with disabilities (any kind of disability), and how they are capable of living full with the help of family, schools, and the community. My professor is amazing, which I think is, in huge part, due to her passion for helping others. So I get to class, and she announces that we have two guest speakers coming to talk to us about burn trauma. A few minutes later, in walked a woman and her husband. He was missing most of his fingers, had very little hair due to scars, and one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen. They sat down and told us their story, of how sixteen years ago, as he was working at a chemical plant, there was a chemical explosion and he was standing right in front of it.
As they shared their experience, I found myself tearing up. It wasn't so much that it was an emotional or sad story, but more that as he spoke the spirit filled the room. He talked about his first moments after the explosion when he felt an intense loneliness until he turned his thoughts to his Heavenly Father. As he did so, he was filled with an incredible peace, knowing that he would be OK. His wife explained how hard it was for her and her four small children. She continually expressed gratitude for wonderful nurses, doctors, friends, family, and neighbors. People would show up at their house at the moments they felt the lowest. She said on one particularly hard night, her husband was struggling, and she didn't know how to help him, because she too was hurting. So she said a prayer, asking for help, and within a half an hour they heard singing, and as they looked outside, the cubscouts had come by singing Christmas Carols. It was just what they needed to get through the night. She encouraged us to follow promptings we have to help others.
Leonard explained that because of the intense pain, the doctors put him into a medically induced coma for the first 2 months in the hospital. He said that he'll never forget the day he woke up. Because burns covered his arms, his arms were in slings, spread out like airplane wings. As he opened his eyes, the feeling in the room was as that in a church or a temple, and he felt as though if he spread his fingers out even an inch he would touch the robes of his Savior. He compared himself to the man who tells the Footprints poem-that during those hardest times he felt carried through it.
Leonard was one of the most positive people I have ever met. He had an incredible sense of humor, and told his story in such an upbeat and hilarious way. He was blind for the first 10 months, and couldn't work for 19. He laughed at how he'd been "toasted", and joked about how his hands were like hamburger. But he brought a very strong spirit into the room. I was amazed at their presentation.
At one point, out of curiousity, I glanced around to see how others were responding to their references to the Savior. Many of them are not members of the church, and I wondered if they would be offended at this couple's openness, but everyone's eyes were locked on them, completely absorbed in what was being said. It first of all amazed me that he had lived through it all, and second that this couple could share such an incredible story, in a spiritual way, in a university classroom. It is sad to me that so many people (including myself at times) would leave such an important part of their story out because they'd be scared of offending others. It was so uplifting to hear their story. Many people were teary-eyed.
One of the most influential moments for me was when he said "you know, sometimes we get caught up in how bad things are for us. But when we do that, all we have to do is look at how bad someone else has it, and we'll realize that we really have it quite good. I'm alive, have a beautiful wife and wonderful children and grandchildren..." saying he had it good. Wow. All of a sudden I realized just how insignificant a midterm really is and how little everything else that has been going on really matters. I'm alive and have a wonderful husband! I really do have it good. It was definitely what I needed to hear.
I would like to say "thank you" to Leonard and his wife for sharing their amazing experience with our class, and for not leaving out the best parts because people might have been offended. I hope I can follow their example!