At Christmas, the child born in the manger is special.
Thus, Christmas is a special time for children.
During Christmas, children are the focus and center
of our special attention.
This Christmas, I think of special children.
Or children with special needs.
If God can become man, as he did on that first Christmas,
why couldn’t have made every child perfect?
In his novel The Clowns Of God, the second book in his Vatican Trilogy, Morris West poignantly explores this difficult question. Why does God allow children with imperfections of handicap to be born? West, through one of the characters in his novel, suggests three reasons.
First, special children touch our hearts and awaken the humanity in us. It is indeed heartbreaking to see an innocent child blighted with a defect or handicap through no fault of his own. The unfairness of the situation stirs what is deeply human in every person. Even the hardest of hearts starts beating in compassion.
Then, such special children evokes in us a strong desire to do something. Faced with such a disquieting situation, we are specially moved to want to do something. We cannot just stand there and not do somethings. Pitiful as the child may be, it motivates us to show some tenderness and kindness and to do something good.
Finally, such children are the signs of God’s special presence in the world. These children and totally pure and will never be touched by evil. They remain in their pure and pristine state, just as they were when they left the hands of God. Their spirits still has the smell of heaven in them.
A Blessed Christmas to children with special needs.