Lisa Jones on friendship, giving, and prayer

I should be in bed, but I just have to say that this NYT piece by Lisa Jones is one of the most beautiful things I have read in ages.

She writes about spending time on the Wind River Indian Reservation with Stanford Addison, a quadriplegic Northern Arapaho horse gentler and traditional healer.

Addison’s story of youthful violence, a devastating accident, and realization that he was a healer is inspiring.

Before his accident, he was as heartless and handsome as a young rebel could be. He was a small-time outlaw who busted broncs, broke hearts, robbed cafes and dealt drugs. After the accident, his 20-year-old body lay unmoving, visited by doctors, nurses, and spirits who began to endow him with unwanted healing powers.

After two years of hospitalization and rehab, he returned home, recognized the sorrow and pity in the eyes of his friends, and decided to kill himself. He tried, failed, and fell back on Plan B: He would get himself killed — which wasn’t all that hard to do on the reservation. But this didn’t work either. At a rowdy party, Stanford was antagonizing a drunk man with a hammer into what he hoped would become a murderous rage when the man put the hammer down, launched into a description the emotional pain that had always haunted him, and started sobbing.

Jones’s writing is compelling, and she too had a transformation, in which she came to appreciate the surrender of prayer.

Kneeling, I begged (which I never thought I’d do) for mercy (which I never thought I’d want). There I was, a former agnostic, the daughter of a psychiatrist, sobbing and begging, face to face with the unwelcome fact that I was a mortal, vulnerable, terrified animal. It helped. A lot.

She also comes to appreciate the grace that accompanies loving others:

Stanford says that the more you pray for others the better off you’ll be.

And now I can go to bed.

One Response to “Lisa Jones on friendship, giving, and prayer”

Linda Robertson says:

October 8, 2009 at 12:08 pm

Thank you. We are all mortals who need love, compassion, awareness and kindness. His emotional pain made me sob; we all need love, acceptance and non-judgement…every human being, every living creature needs to be nourished with compassion and love.