Today we continue the series “Give Us This Day”

     Matthew 6:11 (NKJV) “Give us this day our daily bread.” I were to mention the name Joseph Merrick, would have no clue who I am talking about. He was born in Leicester, England, on August 5, 1862. If I said he was the Elephant Man, we would know. Very few people have ever suffered from more physical deformities than him. All of his fingers were useless nubs. His misshapen head was the circumference of a man’s waist, his distorted mouth made his speech almost impossible to understand. His right arm was twice the size of his left arm. His deformed legs barely supported his weight. In nineteenth century England, a perverse form of entertainment was human novelty exhibitions. Joseph was a headliner and posters about him said he was half man/half elephant. One day a surgeon named Frederick Treves wandered into the human circus. Doctor Treves, “He was the most disgusting specimen of humanity I had ever seen.” But Dr. Treves didn’t shriek and turn away. The sight of Merrick stirred his scientific curiosity and his empathy for this man. He gave him his business card. It was that business card that the London police found on him as he huddled in a dark corner of a train station like a wounded animal. The police called Treves who came and took Merrick to the London Hospital.

Shortly after Merrick arrived, Dr. Treves ordered him a tray of food but failed to warn the nurse about his appearance. When she saw him she dropped the tray and went out of the room screaming. Over time they adjusted to his appearance. Dr. Trevor orchestrated a very careful experiment for Merrick. He had a woman enter his room, smile at him, wish him a good morning, and shake his hand. Treves, “The effect on poor Merrick was not quite what I expected. As he let go her hand he bent his head on his knees and sobbed until I thought he would never cease. He told me afterwards that was the first woman who had ever smiled at him, and the first woman, in the whole of his life, who had shaken hands with him.” The smile…the touch proved to be the tipping point, the turning point. He began to change from a disfigured thing into a man. The doctor found out about Merrick, he was a veracious reader of the Scriptures. Through this love and attention Merrick said many times, “I am happy every hour of the day.” Merrick died at 27 and Dr. Treves eulogized the infamous Elephant Man this way: I have never heard him complain. Never heard him complain? How is that even possible with the kind of trauma he experienced? Happy every hour of the day? How does someone who was mistreated for so many years profess happiness every hour of the day? Our lesson learned from Merrick is this…the obstacles we face are not the enemy. More times than not, we are the enemy. The obstacle, believe it or not, is the way. Kiss the Wave. This is actually a quote from the great Charles Spurgeon, “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” Paul said, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Kiss the wave! Lord, give us this day!