The Meaning of Things (by Duc Luu, Feb 19, 1999.)

I am taking a day off tomorrow, Feb 20th, 1999 for my gall-bladder surgery.
The nurse called and proceeded what she had to do to prepare for the operations. She asked all the details including my religious back ground and emergency contacts just in case. From my driver license, she also happened to know I was one of the organ-donors as well. "If anything goes wrong with the surgery," I said on the phone to the nurse, "I mean in worst case scenario, my body parts at least would be worth something, right?, I joked. The nurse laughed, then replied back with her sense of humor, "We sure would know what to do with them. Don't you be worried", said the nurse, "And they will not be wasted, that I can guarantee.", she concluded.
I sat down with the doctor yesterday. As part of routine procedure, I supposed, doctors were required to go through all the details with their patients before any operations. He explained how the structure of one's organs works together; and how the operations would be performed. The more details he went through, the more I amazed how things all work together to make up a whole fuctioning working process that one calls a living body.
As time goes on, sooner or later, one would learn how to appreciate things; having a chance to sit down with doctors who were the experts to lecture the complexity and the harmony of the entire system is like a beginning process of understanding how the mystery of life was uncovered. One would have no choice but begin to amaze how things could possibly be so well structured and bonded together. That bonding process, as a matter of fact, is happening right here, right now, in everyone's life as we speak. One would have no choice but admit that after all, isn't that wonderful that things, once exist in this life, are meant something for each other.
For a moment, I felt regret that I would have to get rid part of my body parts that I had been taken for granted.
All of the sudden, I remembered one line in Corithians, the New Testament, that said, "Each one should go on living according to the Lord’s gift to him, and as he was when God called him." (Corinthians 7:17 New Testament)"
At that moment, I smiled, "Yeah! If it were not meant something, it would not have been here; If things were not meant for someone, somehow, someway, they wouldn't be around."
To share part of this thought, I would like to quote a short story by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen, and Irene Dunlap. This story was published in the "Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul". Since the story fits in the concept of the usefulness of things, I would like to quote it here as part of the conclusion for this particular thought.
"...The Perfect Dog Minnie was the funniest looking dog I'd ever seen. During summer vacations, I volunteered at the vet's, and I'd seen a lot of dogs. Thin curly hair barely covered her sausage-shaped body. Her bugged-out eyes always seemed surprised. And her tail looked like a rat's tail. She was brought to the vet to be put to sleep because her owners didn't want her anymore. I thought Minnie had a sweet personality though. No one should judge her by her looks, I thought. So the vet spayed her and gave her the necessary shots.
Finally, I advertised Minnie in the local paper: "Funny-looking dog, well behaved, needs loving family." When a young man called, I warned him that Minnie was strange looking. The boy on the phone told me that his grandfather's sixteen-year-old dog had just died. They wanted Minnie no matter what. I gave Minnie a good bath and fluffed-up what was left of her scraggly hair. Then we waited for them to arrive. At last, an old car drove up in front of the vet's. Two kids raced to the door. They grabbed Minnie into their arms and rushed her out to the grandfather. He was waiting in the car. I hurried behind them to see his reaction to Minnie. Inside the car, the grandfather cradled Minnie in his arms and stroked her soft hair. She licked his face. Her rat-tail wagged around so quickly that it looked like it might fly off her body. It was love at first lick. "She's perfect!" the old man exclaimed. I was thankful that Minnie had found the good home that she deserved. That's when I saw that the grandfather's eyes were a milky-white color; he was blind...."

I guess the moral of the story is simple, like Kenny Rogers once sang in the song "Coward of The County", "There is someone for everyone....". Yes, every life is worth living. Everyone has his or her own reason to exist and be proud of what and who they are. Especially for the extremists, passing judgements onto someone or something that happens not to be like the rest of others is like going against what has been reminded in the Corithians, and I quote again, ""Each one should go on living according to the Lord’s gift to him, and as he was when God called him." (Corinthians 7:17 New Testament)"

Duc Luu