By Prof. Bernie V. Lopez – eastwind, columnist, Daily Tribune (Philippines).
Blindness Can Make Us See.
Maria, at 78 years old, turned blind because of degenerative cataracts on both eyes. She was in protracted depression. She prayed to the Lord for strength.
She realized she could ‘see’ with her hands, so she continued sewing and gardening by groping, the only things she could do in her old age. If she failed to open a new window of her soul, she would think of suicide.
Her granddaughter asked her to stop and rest, and she would reply, “I am resting, my dear.” She was happier blind than when she still could see. If you turn deaf, you can hear. If you turn blind you can see. It is up to you, your soul that yearns for light. Maria turned her deep darkness to blinding light through the help of the Lord.
Beethoven – the Deaf Composer.
It is the heart that composes, not the mind, not the ears. Ludwing Van Beethoven, the great composer, ironically had a defective ear.
What he could not hear, he could see and would transform it into music. His photographic memory enabled him to instantly write his new song into a musical score.
He walked through the nearby woods and ‘listened’ to the trees swaying in the wind and composed a melody instantly. He watched the incandescent moon playing hide and seek with thin clouds and composed an evening sonata without thinking. The music just oozed out of his soul. This was how he wrote one of his most famous masterpieces, Moonlight Sonata.
In the name of spiritual survival, he was forced to let his heart turn to his eyes when his ears were failing. His impairment closed a window in his soul, but a new irresistible window opened wide. It was the energy of the soul to survive and surmount great hurdles. Rather than suppress him, deafness made Ludwig more resolved and more creative in composing his greatest works.
The soul has many windows. When one is shut, one or two more open in the name of survival. The soul’s spiritual energy cannot be suppressed. It oozes out of the cracks, much like a volcano erupting from tremendous pressure.
“Walls Do Not a Prison Make.”
If they jail you, you can let your soul wander endlessly in the woods. To fight madness, an inmate at Alcatraz, the infamous island prison, memorized dozens of books on grandmaster chess games. He had a photographic memory. He remembered almost every move of every game Grand Masters played against each other. Yet, he never played a single game in his life.
A visiting journalist heard about his feat, interviewed him, and wrote a story in a chess magazine. When a Grand Master read the article, he visited the Alcatraz denizen and challenged him to a game of chess. After a long silence, he agreed.
The Alcatraz inmate played the very first ever game in his life against a Grand Master, and won. From memory, he based his moves on particular Grand Master chess games from his books without having the skill to play, just pure memory. The grandmaster hugged him from sheer admiration.
The Green Filipino Jailbird.
Inspired by a true character I met as a consultant for a USAID-funded environment project.
Manong Ben was a forester by heart. He was jailed for killing his wife and her secret lover. He was in protracted deep depression for two years, talking to no one. He asked the Lord to rescue him. The Lord replied instantly. Hearing the story of the chess player, he suddenly realized that he could do the same, open new windows in his soul.
One night, he ‘left’ his cell and roamed the rainforests in his mind. He could hear clearly the birds and monkeys calling out to him. He started writing a book with pencil and paper. When he ran out of paper, he wrote on toilet paper.
The book was on how mono-crop tree plantations, propagated to make paper from its soft pulp, triggered massive infestations by deadly worm borers that could destroy thousands of hectares of trees in a matter of weeks. Mono-cropping triggered forest epidemics. Manong Ben wrote that the only solution was simple – burn the entire plantation.
Writing instantly healed his depression, from total darkness to blinding light. His book was cited in a scientific journal, which made him famous. He was labelled the “green Filipino jailbird”, and was eventually pardoned because of his book award.
No one can stop a prisoner to roam the Earth if he wanted to, or an astronaut from visiting galaxies.
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amdg = ad majorem Dei gloriam = for the greater glory of God.
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