Beginning with Chapter 1, Luke prayed and asked the Lord to save anyone who would receive any of his organs after his death. This chapter of the story is a continuation of the series that illustrates the sovereignty of God and how He fulfills Luke’s prayer.
Walter joined the Marines after the attack on the World Trade Center that took place on September 11, 2011. Watching the Twin Towers burn and crumble to the ground, due to being struck by the two jumbo passenger planes that were piloted by terrorists, Walter’s heart was filled with hatred and vengeance toward the people who had done this and everyone who had any complicity to this horrible act of terrorism. A sense of patriotism and duty had compelled him to volunteer and enlist in the Marines. He chose the Leathernecks because they were almost always the first to see battle. His desire to strike back and inflict vengeance upon the people who had perpetrated the deadliest attacks on American soil since the bombing of Pearl Harbor possessed him like a demon. After basic training and advance Individual Training for the infantry unit he would be assigned to, he was stationed on an aircraft carrier where he quickly disembarked with his battalion into the enemy’s territory. Walter’s almost insatiable desire to strike back was now being realized.
He immediately distinguished himself amongst his comrades as an outstanding Marine. Being the trigger man of a team who manned an M50 caliber machine gun, Walter meted out vengeance and death to many of his adversaries with much delight and satisfaction that fed and fueled his hatred and wrath. Nevertheless, the day came when he would become a victim of his own allies’ misdirected artillery shell. A shell exploded very close to where he and his team were positioned, instantly killing his buddies and blinding him in the process. When he was medevacked to a military hospital, they discovered that though he had survived the explosion, he was blind (due to damage in his cornea in both of his eyes). The loss of his sight was unknown to him because they had wrapped a bandage around his head that covered both of his eyes. The optometrist and nurses (who were assigned to his case) did everything within their power to prepare him for the worse knowing in advance that the cornea in both of his eyes had been damaged beyond repair. When the bandages were finally removed from his eyes, Walter cried out in horror, “I can’t see! I can’t see!” He did this frantically for quite a few minutes. When they were finally able to calm him, the doctor comforted and assured him that all hope of him seeing again was not loss. He explained to him (with much effort and empathy) that others had regained their ability to see, who had suffered the lost of their sight by an accident or incident that damaged or destroyed their cornea in both eyes, as he had. Furthermore, he told him that due to the fact that his loss of sight occurred on the battlefield in the line of duty (defending his nation), his name would be at the very top as a recipient for a pair of corneas from an organ donor. All that the doctor said to Walter was very positive and gave him something to truly hope for that one day his sight could be restored. Nevertheless, it did not extinguish the hatred that was bottled up in his heart that he had greatly kindled through the killing of many on the battlefield. He had sunk from killing the enemy in defense of America to enjoying the taking of life. Now that he was blind and had become so by friendly fire, his anger, and bitterness was exacerbated.
Walter became withdrawn and very difficult to communicate with and would occasionally display and vent his anger and frustration out on those who had been assigned to help him through therapy and counseling. One such person was Chaplain Rogers, who was a very devout and committed Christian, who took being a chaplain very seriously. Chaplain Rogers had a secret that he kept concealed from Walter and insisted to all the others in the veteran’s hospital who interacted with him to not share it. He was born blind and had never been able to see. When Walter, in his deep-rooted anger and bitterness, would vent out toward others and even to Chaplain Rogers at times, he would simply ignore him. Even when he would say, “None of you all know what I am going through! You all have your sight and can see, but look at me. I am a blind man and became this way defending my country,” Chaplain Rogers would still hold his peace and maintain his secret. Though he was very tempted at times to share it with Walter, something down on the inside would restrain him from doing so. As time passed, Chaplain Rogers could discern that his prayers, love, and patience were beginning to have a positive and profound effect on Walter. His attitude was changing and he had spoken less and less about the loss of his sight, as well as the hatred that he once harbored in his heart for the terrorists who caused the destruction on 9/11. When Chaplain Rogers would read Scriptures to him and explain them, Walter would have quite a few questions to ask him. This was especially the case when it came to passages about Jesus Christ and Him being the Only Begotten Son of God who the Father sent to be the Savior of the world. When Chaplain Rogers perceived that Walter was ready (through having heard the Word and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit), he asked him would he like to receive Jesus Christ into his heart as his Lord and Savior. Without any hesitation, Walter said, “yes” and was led in the sinner’s prayer and became a born-again child of God.
Amazingly, almost immediately thereafter, Walter received some very good news that he was to receive a pair of corneas for his eyes that could possibly restore the vision in both his eyes. He was a perfect match for the corneas from a donor who had recently died. Chaplain Rogers prayed with him with the petition that God would restore his sight, if it was His will. Walter, who was now a man with a new and converted heart, agreed. When the procedure which lasted for a few hours was finally over, Walter was taken to a recovery room where he waited with great expectation to have his head unwrapped from the bandages that covered his eyes. Before the surgery, he had made a special request to Chaplain Rogers to be present with him when they took the bandages from his eyes. Whatever the outcome would be, he knew he would need his moral support. When they finally finished unwrapping the bandages, he could only see light at first. However, as he continued to blink both eyelids, his vision became clearer and clearer until it was as good as it had been before he lost his sight on the battlefield. He immediately recognized Chaplain Rogers, the man who had been used by God to get him to the place of spiritual and natural healing where he was now. However, he was shocked to discover that Chaplin Rogers was blind and felt much contrition and regret for how he had acted about his blindness. Chaplain Rogers comforted and assured him that his blindness was not a liability, but a gift from God. Furthermore, Chaplin Rogers told Walter that he was once blind both spiritually and naturally, but now he can see in both aspects.
Join me next week for Chapter 5.
