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Help God’s hurting children
Let us all heed the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
All of God’s children could sure use a lot more love than many of them are getting. What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
Many people with chronic conditions and disabilities are left out in the cold for help because of the cruel and callous philosophy, that the ends does justify the means. I submit that reasons are found or created to deny people the care they need. It is nothing less than a fundamental infringement and denial of their civil right to be treated with the dignity and the compassion, which should be the hallmarks of a just society.
We should not be deluded. There are those in power, who say that they are there to help people in need. As they get more power, I believe some lose the reason why they got into public service to begin with. They get brownie points with the public by saying they are saving the taxpayer money. They are weeding out the con artists in the system. Having worked in social services, I know there will always be those who seek to defraud the system, but they are in the minority. The real bottom line has nothing to do with caring for people’s needs. It is in the final analysis all about money and votes.
This is not merely my own opinion. It is the sad and defeating experience of many with chronic conditions and disabilities. They are regarded as the weak, the vulnerable, those so beaten and worn down by the injustices they have experienced. They cave in. They accept what table scraps of help or any that are offered.
Is it any wonder that those who are abused by those in the government in power over them give in, resign from life and commit suicide either actively or by simply giving up. Then, those who believe that the ends justifies the means win. They have given the masses what their itching ears want to hear. You have saved us money. The story that remains hidden, that is swept under the carpet, is that this savings is accomplished by hurting people, by denying them the health care and support they need.
Those who have then become corrupted and consumed by that power, by the system that lacks compassion and truly only sees the bottom line, will say, “The ends justifies the means.” Look, taxpayer, at all the money we are saving you. Yes, there are short-term savings as the cost of home support care is reduced. But there will be a longer term cost that those who have stopped caring won’t tell you about. There will be a further cost to the health care system because people aren’t being given the support they need.
The corruption of power in government is an abuse of the authority given by God. Wherever it is present, it needs to be weeded out. Those who have violated the trust of God and the public who voted for them need to be removed from their office. They have failed in their entrusted responsibilities. We have power as the electorate to say enough is enough and remove them from power.
Edmund Burke, who was an Irish philosopher and politician is quoted as saying, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” If we don’t speak up against the injustice we see around us, then we condone and support the actions of those who have abused the trust God and we put in them.
Those who harm any one of God’s children will face God’s wrath. “And I tell you too, that the man who disturbs the faith of one of the humblest of those who believe in me would be better off if he were thrown into the sea with a great mill-stone hung round his neck!”(Mark 9:42, J. B. Phillips New Testament).
In the province of Ontario people with disabilities are getting less support, not more. The Assisted Devices Program will not cover the cost for those not requiring a power chair from morning until night. Those who can use a walker even part of the day, but can’t get out on their own are left without help. How do I know this? It is my own personal experience being on Ontario Disability.
Because I don’t need a power chair from morning to night, I won’t be getting a power chair through the Assisted Devices Program. I have a rare neurodegenerative disorder called oliviopontocerebellar ataxia, which affects my mobility, ability to keyboard because of tremors in my hands and at times even my ability to swallow what I eat and speak.
Services for me from the Community Care Access Centre Kirkland Lake Branch are wait listed. I can get help through Temiskaming Home Support for personal care, but that will cost $34.00 an hour. I can receive help with meal preparation and cleaning, but that will cost $9.00 an hour.
I have to decide each month those medications I can have and those I will have to do without. I can’t even have the diet I should be having, because Karen and I can’t afford it. It’s just too expensive for me to eat the way I really should be eating.
Yet, my Lord reminds me of Bishop Makawa in Malawi. He and his family goes to bed hungry at night. I tell people about it, but no one comes forward to help. They are left to suffer. Millions of God’s children are left to suffer from lack of food or proper health care. There are many who care, but those who fight the war against malnutrition, who fight for those to receive the quality education all people deserve, write to me personally. They outline the litany of injustices they see every day and try the best they can to alleviate. God’s heart and mine and for all those who truly care about God’s hurting children aches and is angry about this unnecessary injustice.
There are people who think nothing of having the latest Smart Phone, Ipad or Android Tablet. But how much thought do they give to those who ask not for a hand out, but a hand up?
It means nothing to the government bean counters in the province of Ontario, that I also have a genetic form of pernicious anemia a.k.a. B12 deficiency, which affects my energy levels. It means nothing that I have what doctors think is a degenerating mast cell condition called systemic mastocytosis. Now, that I have lesions on my body showing the condition is advancing, that there is internal damage in my body, that I am coming closer to the time I will die, they finally agree I have the condition.
It as with pernicious anemia are auto immune conditions. The body attacks itself.
I have had too many mast cell attacks to count. These are the cells that form part of your immune system, are in your tissues and are throughout your organs. A mast cell attack is like having unwelcome members at a neighbourhood block party. In a mast cell attack the mast cells form more and more mast cells. This process can go on for hours and even days. In me it can lead to anaphylactic attacks and allergic reactions. I have been intubated eight times.
There have been times the doctors have gone to Karen, saying, “You need to be prepared that Kevin might not make it this time.” Why? With each mast cell attack my life shortens a little more. Barring divine healing, which I do keep praying for and never rule out, I will not have a full life span. I have accepted this truth.
I know that I will be going to Heaven where I don’t have to deal with the crap that is handed to me, with the myriad of injustices and insults to my dignity that I have experienced.
No longer will I have to endure the excuses politicians, administrators in government and home care support give me for why they can’t help me. No longer will I have to wage this daily battle with the stinking stench of injustice in my life and the lives of all those who fall victim to the Darwinian philosophy of the survival of the fittest.
I will be going to a place where there is no more sorrow, where there is no more pain, where the only thing I will experience is the love of my Lord and the sweet songs of the heavenly choir , where no longer I will have to listen for yet one more time, “We can’t cover that. You’ll have to go to Ontario Works for that request.”
I can now see vividly, clearly, sharply, why death can be seen as the far greater mercy. If I’m given an opportunity to go home soon I won’t fight it this time. I’ll say, “Father, take me away from this world of injustice and inhumanity. Take me home to hear the sweet chorus of the heavenly choir. Take me away from this daily toil of endless suffering not only in my life, but in the lives of all those I hold dear.”
Karen and I have had the difficult conversations about when God will call me home. There is a sense in my spirit that from the time I was born, I was put on an accelerated time table of learning by my Lord for His Kingdom purposes. There are people who have said with all I’ve experienced with abuse from my schizo affective father, misjudgements of my character, poverty,disability and ongoing health challenges, I have lived several lifetimes.
As I write this message to you I see the truth of that statement. God’s curriculum for me and all those who are suffering servants is a full one. We who have endured much are then called to use those experiences, to bring many out of the dungeons of their inner pain..
Now, that I have told you some of my personal journey and call to be a passionate social advocate, let me now turn to those who need your help.
People on Ontario Disability are having to go to welfare, known as Ontario Works, for more of the things they need. I submit this is the way the government of Kathleen Wynne can say that more money should be allocated to welfare, which is intended to be a short-term program.
Under the unction of the Holy spirit as these words flow with ease, those who harm any one of God’s children will be held accountable by God for their actions. They will face God’s justice, which always includes the availability of His mercy.
If those who are hurting God’s children think I will stop fighting for those with disabilities and chronic conditions to get the care and supports they need, they can think again.
If you feel God’s call to advocate for those whose rights are being stomped on, those who aren’t being treated with the dignity and fundamental decency they deserve, then soar like the eagle with that calling. Pursue it with vigour and an unswerving determination.
Let’s get the message out loud and clear, that we will fight for the abuse of all of God’s children to stop.
If we blind our eyes to the injustices we see around us, then we become part of the problem, not part of the solution.
When we face God to give an account of our actions while we were here, may it be said of all of us that we did all we could, to fight for the rights of all of God’s children.
“The moment that justice must be paid for by the victim of injustice it becomes itself injustice.”
Benjamin Tucker
P.S. You can help the suffering by continuing to reblog this piece. Tell your elected politicians your patience is at an end with people not getting the supports they need to live a quality life.
Let’s start a revolution of caring, that those who have stopped caring won’t be able to ignore. This is God’s call to all of us to speak out against all the injustices we see in society as a whole.
Posted in compassion
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