Looking back

As Matt and I were talking over some of the topics that came up with doctors at the hospital yesterday, we were reflecting back and going through old pictures of our first visit with Mira. Both of us had been afraid to hold her - afraid to do much more than just lightly touch her - she was so fragile and so tense and rigid, but I knew I didn't want to leave without having once had her in my arms, frightening as it was to hold that delicate, stiff little girl.

She's come so far.

Our church pulls together all of the Sunday School classes into one group for the summer - adults, youth, kids - and this summer we're going through a simple chatechism one question each week. This past Sunday part of our discussion time centered around what it means to be made in the image of God and the implications that has on the inherent value of human life.

Many of the examples that were shared do not appear to have any bearing on Tsvetomira (she is not particularly "creative", nor do we know if she is capable of thinking about thinking). So I go back to conversations that Matt and I have had over the years - that being made in God's image means that each one of us in a different way has inherant qualities that reflect a tiny piece of who God is, and that through knowing one another and looking for these qualities in one another, we are able to get a broader picture of who God is and what he is like. An image does not capture the whole, but as you look at more and more different images of the same thing, the layers begin to build and give you a more three-dimensional understanding of what you are seeing in each one of those images.

There's also something to be taken from a picture like this one, also from our first trip to visit Mira:

Tiny little Gloria knows. She's not reaching out to pet Mira like one would pet an animal or explore a flower; she, on her own initiative, reached out to hold a hand - connecting with an equal. Without any biases of degrees of cognitive capacity she knows a fellow human being when she sees one!

As she's hospitalized again, I am so grateful for living in a country that still has enough of its Christian origins that both the system (insurance) and the individuals (hospital staff) treat her with dignity. She has value and it's worth investing time and money to give her the best life possible.