Miller's Perspective

                                       Miller’s Perspective
I live as a quadriplegic. I once became friends with a nurse, Dale. I knew little of her past. I’d known her grandfather most of my life and I’d heard news of her divorce, but such knowledge mattered little to me. I just cared that she was good to me, because as a mute quadriplegic, I need friends, who will be good to me.

While I didn’t care about her past and family history, Uncle Miller and similar people did. He once described her as trash. Other people campaigned against her, until she left my life.

When Uncle Miller had a stroke, his attitude changed. After he suffered his stroke, he spent two years in my home. While he was here, I continued to send e-mail messages to Dale. After I received an e-mail message from her one evening, somebody asked me why I didn’t give up on my friendship with her. Didn’t I know she was no good?

To my surprise, Uncle Miller spoke up for me. He said, “Maybe, she’s good to him.”

Jesus said for us not to judge each other, but we do. Before many of us can stop judging our neighbors, we must be condemned to useless bodies and realize how much we all need help. Our arrogance amazes me, but God humbles us with our deaths or something worse.

I now write to a woman in prison, Tracy. I’ve written to many women in prisons in the past, but none of them seemed humbled by their prison experiences. Their prison experiences made them determined to get out of prison and never get caught again, but Tracy just seems determined to become a better person.

Nobody sees Tracy as I do. They just see her as a series of mistakes. I see her as a very loyal friend. When she has the money to buy stamps, she never fails to write to me. Her letters describe her as a woman with enough character to overcome her mistakes and any obstacles that might prevent us from always being friends.

I wish everybody could see Tracy as I do, but I’ll have to wait, until I get to Heaven, to experience paradise. Earthlings are always looking for reasons to believe they’re better than their neighbors.