Children are so brutally honest, that sometimes what they say or do, can just make you laugh hysterically if you are having a "rough day." This past Thursday was challenging enough, as there were quite a few pressing issues at work, and like a lot of folks can relate, I was just a "bit down." We've all had those days, and while thankfully they are generally fewer in number than the good days, they can be a source of frustration. With slumped shoulders, a bit of slowness in my gait, I was walking inside of a school. There were small posters made, where Dr. Martin Luther King's famous "I have a Dream" was quoted, with what each particular youth wanted to write. These were all over the wall, and in a cascade of colors, making them impossible to miss.
A lot of the children wished for 'world peace' and 'everybody is kind to others.' That would be quite an accomplishment, if it is possible, but always seems far out of reach. Others had written about "energy sources that don't pollute", or "all pets have a place to call home." These were all fine, but two of them particularly stood out. The first one was "that lunch was served earlier than 12:30," and the other was "the school needs pandas due to it being so boring here." You have got to love this honesty, because they wrote what was on their minds, and the first one was potentially feasible. The second one, unfortunately due to pandas being rare, and also not as docile as they are beautiful, probably won't be occurring unless you get bad grades.
This level of "telling like it is", made me laugh. It also reminded me of a story involving Gandhi. A mother brought her child from a far distance, to see this fine man for advice. Her daughter was eating too much sugar, and so they visited this inspirational leader. His advice? "See me in two weeks." The lady was angry, but walked away with her daughter, back to their village a long distance away. Two weeks later, they returned, and Gandhi's advice to the young girl was 'don't eat sugar.' The incredulous woman, irate, yelled at Gandhi saying "That's all you can say!" Gandhi said "Two weeks ago I was eating sugar."
Honesty spoken plainly by an adult. While the dream of not eating sugar is one that I have, I do have one that could be completed after Dr. King's famous speech. That is for seizures to be cured. It is a reasonable one, as the folks at Vanderbilt University and other institutions, have made developments that were impossible now a reality. They are so close, just on the cusp of making history, and in our lifetimes this discovery will be made. I know it in my heart, as I have prayed on it, and know that its going to happen. For some, this great news will come late, as it has for my son who lost his life due to them. It is too late for those who've also died from them, which is more common than we'd like to admit. Those who are fighting them right now, they need this discovery to be made, and if you don't think it is reasonable, look at the life of one Abraham Lincoln.
Other than a bad night at Ford's Theatre, his life is a model for those who say "seizures can't be cured." He went through bouts of chronic depression, lost so many elections that you'd need more than fingers and toes to count them, and yet became President of the United States. Still think curing seizures is nothing but an "idealistic musing?" How about the General surrounded by Germans, helplessly outnumbered in WWII, who's response to surrender was simply "nuts!". That's honesty in the line of fire, and while thankfully there are no howitzers firing at me from each direction, I know that a cure for seizures is going to happen. It hasn't been easy, nor will it be. Yet nothing good ever comes from "easy". There won't be pandas in that school before a cure for seizures is found, that is for sure. The earlier lunch period might happen, but in our lifetime, with hard work and the dedication of folks at Vanderbilt, it will not be a dream but a reality.
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