Isn’t that what every parent wants? Of course there’s a great difference between our culture’s understanding of happiness and Christian hedonism!
I know the following statement has lots of exceptions; I try to stay away from sweeping, romantic statements about disability and happiness. But the contrast offered by Dr. C. Everett Koop was just too good to pass up because of how our culture views disability, normalcy and the opportunity to experience happiness:
Yet it has been my constant experience that disability and unhappiness do not go hand in hand. The most unhappy children I have known have been completely normal. On the other hand, there is remarkable joy and happiness in the lives of most handicapped children; yet some have borne burdens which I would have found difficult to face indeed.
C. Everett Koop, M.D., Sc.D.
former Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service
The Works of God 
That’s such a true statement. We could all learn a lesson in regards to being content from the disabled.
I read the whole lecture and thought that it was excellent; As a nurse, I think that Dr. Koop hit the nail on the head, and as a mom of a child with disabilities, he double hit the nail on the head. Good posting, John.
I lived with a mentally handicapped boy for a year and found this to be true in his case.
soli Deo gloria!
Thanks for the quote and reminder. There is great joy in giving and receiving love. Anne
One of the happiest children I know died this year from kidney failure related to her spina bifida. Her name was Sarah Joy, and an apt middle name it was. She brought so much joy in her short years.
my brother-in-law is mentally handicapped and he is one of the happiest guys I know. He might get upset or mad, but minutes later he is in a good mood and loving on someone. He works and lives at Disability Resources Inc. (www.driabilene.org) here in Abilene, TX.
DRI is a great place where folks with all levels of disabilities live, work, and play. They even make and sell their own products. It is so wonderful getting to spend time with everyone at DRI. No matter who you are, you are special in their eyes.
What if we all looked at people that way?
Thanks, I have a daughter with FragileX (similar to autism) and she is one of the most joyous people I have ever seen. Her tender heart just melts me. About a year ago, she started wanting me to pray with here every PM before she goes to bed. That is the best part of my whole day.
Perhaps normal children are unhappy because of an unspoken expectation that to be normal is to be happy, despite the fact that we live in a fallen world where joy is often fleeting.
Perhaps those who experience physically the brokenness of this world are that much more able to rise above it — because they’ve accepted their brokenness, versus those who are taught to believe that things ought not be broken, and come to expect that of themselves and their world, and then are consequently perpetually disappointed by the difficulty of life in a fallen world.
[…] need to complain and grumble about our shortcomings. I read this quote the other day on John Knight’s blog from C. Everett Koop, (M.D., Sc.D. former Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service): Yet it has […]