The Least of These

When we lived in Halifax both my wife Ruth and our son Isaac worked in group homes for those with physical and mental handicaps and challenges. They worked in the same residence for a while, although at different times, and they reminisce with affection about the gang with which they worked.

One of their responsibilities was chaperoning residents to various events, including the local version of the Special Olympics. A couple of the residents loved the athletic challenge and I accompanied Ruth more than once, just to offer support. The thrill of accomplishment was so evident in their faces and moving for me as an onlooker.

Two days ago the founder of the Special Olympics, Eunice Shriver, died at the age of eighty eight . Shriver was one of the famous Kennedy clan, sister of JFK, Robert, and Ted. They also had a sister, Rosemary, who was mentally challenged and kept in the backgrounduntil Eunice began finding ways to enhance her life. It was a time when those with mental challenges were regarded as an embarrassment in many families. The organization Eunice began now involves more than a million athletes in 160 countries.

What a wonderful legacy from perhaps a lesser known member of one of the best known families in the world. There is a passage in Matthew, chapter 25 in which Jesus encourages his listeners to believe that when they are kind and generous to the dispossessed and unlovely, at least by society's standards, they are actually responding to him: "truly I tell you, just as you did it ton one of the least of these who are membersof my family you did it to me." It seems to me that Eunice Shriver, who was a person of faith, lived this message.