NOTE: This Message was originally addressed to Tom Mckeever
      from Dempt@eskimo.com and was forwarded to you by Tom Mckeever
                           --------------------
Date:         Tue, 28 Mar 1995 00:08:58 -0800
From:         Tom Dempsey 
Subject:      Super-natural Strength
To:           Multiple recipients of list POLIO 
The following is an article from the Mar. - Apr., 1995 P.E.N. & ink
newsletter from the Polio Experience Network.  I really like it and
thought I would share it with you.  I will be putting these
newsletters on the Polio Survivors Page in the near future.
                     Tom
_______________________
"Super-natural Strength" by Dave Graham
The year was 1950 -- the Polio epidemic held Southeast Portland in
it's death grip.  The body of the five year old boy hung limp from his
mother's arms as she struggled up the long walk to Isolation
Hospital.  This institution, like none other, struck horror in the
minds and hearts of parents throughout the region.  For it was here,
in this building of quarantine, that many had lost their children.
The young mother gave him up to the attendant, laying his frailness
on the adult-sized cart that would take him away, out of her sight
and grasp, perhaps forever.
As the youngster, gasping for breath, was rolled away, she prayed
aloud, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall ....."
Later, as she maintained her vigil outside the small hospital lobby,
a young lady appeared.  She was dressed in white and had a look of
tender authority.  The news was not good.  The youngster's only
chance seemed to be the iron-lung.  As they spoke, they were busy
preparing the grotesque machine to receive his tiny frame.
The mother turned and knelt a moment, praying.  When she arose, she
wore a peaceful smile.  In astonishment, the nurse inquired of her
demeanor.  With calm boldness, the mother shared a beloved scripture:
 "For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed;
for I know who I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to
guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day." (2 Tim. 1:12)
A few miles away, friends and relatives gathered to pray.  They would
implore the Creator to intercede for the boy.  "For where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them." (Matt. 18:20)  They knew that they would be heard.
The next morning the sun shown bright as the young mother returned to
the hospital and took up her vigil in the lobby.  In time, a medical
man, his shoulders bent and hair mussed, appeared at the door.
Obviously tired, yet a wide grin adorned his face.  "It was a miracle
if I ever saw one," he proclaimed.  "Your boy, he's a good one.  I
never saw such a fighter.  He's got strength like --, like I've
never seen!  He's one that old wind barrel never got."
Today the mother is a great-grandmother, the boy, a man.  After these
many years, they still look to God for strength and guidance.
                   ------------
In those days of early technology and primitive medical treatment, we
either put our faith in God or we perished in our own despair.
In the last forty years, I have seen the changes.  I have watched
medicine advance and technology soar.  But, I have also watched men
turn their faith to temporary things and momentary pleasures.  From
where will this contemporary man receive his super-natural strength
when he really needs it?
"The LORD is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear?  The
LORD is the strength of my life -- of whom shall I be afraid?"  (Psa
27:1)
_________________________________
Tom Dempsey               |     dempt@eskimo.com
Seattle, Washington USA   |     http://www.eskimo.com/~dempt/
----
Polio Survivors Page  http://www.eskimo.com/~dempt/polio.html
 * WCE 2.01á4/2037 * ... My modem isn't slow. It's "baudly" challenged.
--- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.11 
1:374/22.0)
---------------