{"id":1950,"date":"2009-09-08T00:52:02","date_gmt":"2009-09-08T00:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owenstrachan.com\/?p=1950"},"modified":"2009-09-08T00:52:02","modified_gmt":"2009-09-08T00:52:02","slug":"owens-story-a-life-affirming-piece-from-mens-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2009\/09\/owens-story-a-life-affirming-piece-from-mens-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Owen’s Story: A Life-Affirming Piece from Men’s Health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"hamiltoncain\"I found this searing piece in Men\u2019s Health<\/em><\/a>\u2013not the typical source for articles filed under \u201csearing.\u201d\u00a0 But this essay by Hamilton Cain about his physically challenged son, Owen,\u00a0is one of the most life-affirming stories I have read in a long time.\u00a0 It\u2019s entitled \u201cMy Son, Solved\u201d<\/a> and it comes highly recommended from another Owen.<\/p>\n

Note that I certainly don\u2019t agree with everything Hamilton Cain stands for.\u00a0 He has written in Men\u2019s Health<\/em> before of his support for stem-cell research, a practice I cannot affirm.\u00a0 He is politically liberal, while I am conservative.\u00a0 But he loves his son, and that comes out clear as a bell in the article.\u00a0 His efforts to communicate with him in the midst of a tragic illness that has left Owen unable to speak are, as I said above, nothing less than life-affirming.\u00a0 (Image: Emiliano Ponzi\/Men\u2019s Health<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Cain charts his son\u2019s halting progress with eloquence.\u00a0 He notes at one particularly moving point how his son seemed to tune in to certain DVDs and programs.\u00a0 As time went on and Owen\u2019s assistants worked very hard with him, he began to write out his thoughts and feelings, a remarkable step for him.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what Cain says of his this:<\/p>\n

He also started to express his personal wants and tastes. He\u2019d request a specific DVD, like his beloved WALL-E<\/em>. And he told me he considers \u201cMy Flying Saucer\u201d our special song.<\/p>\n

I love how this song makes me feel about my dad. It makes me feel happy and healthy on days that are sad. I am only six but I remember when I was a baby and my dad would sing it to me and I loved it. Now I listen to every word every time I hear my song and daddy\u2019s. I love our song very much. I love my dad very much so. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is well-nigh impossible to read these words in the context of the piece and not choke up.\u00a0 Before, Owen could not share a single thought with his family.\u00a0 Now, given the ability to write, he expresses tenderness and deep affection.\u00a0 In this flawless essay, one glimpses a father\u2019s love for his son, the effect of great assistance by two nurses, and most powerfully, the love of a son for his devoted father.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The article shows us a bit of what investment in one\u2019s children can bring.\u00a0 I know next to nothing about Hamilton Cain, but I\u2019m guessing he\u2019s a busy man.\u00a0 In the midst of his schedule, he took time to bridge the gap between he and his son.\u00a0 He tried in his own way to connect with him by playing songs to him and singing to him.\u00a0 Those of us who are tempted to allow productivity and perhaps selfish pursuits to draw us away from our children are reminded by stories like this to push past our sin and our busyness and to involve ourselves in the lives of our children.\u00a0 You cannot read Owen\u2019s adoring words to his father and not recognize that children soak up all their parents give them\u2013and in turn, often give them gifts sweeter than almost anything else in this life.<\/p>\n

We see here as well the power of communication.\u00a0 In a surprising way, this essay opens up to us just how significant communication is.\u00a0 Without it, we have little connection with one another.\u00a0 One cannot help but think of God\u2019s self-revelation to humanity and how gracious an act this is.\u00a0 Without it, we are all like little Owen, knowing little and unknown in the world.\u00a0 With it, we find hope, and grace, and love.<\/p>\n

We are reminded by pieces like \u201cMy Son, Solved\u201d<\/a>\u2013wherever they may pop up, and they often do in odd places\u2013that life is precious.\u00a0 It is a gift from God.\u00a0 It is fragile.\u00a0 It has been impeded and harmed by the fall of Adam and Eve.\u00a0 It is filled with struggle and sadness.\u00a0 It is also filled with love, tenacious love.\u00a0 As powerful as the love of common grace shows itself to be, love rooted in the sacrificial substitution of Jesus Christ is exponentially greater.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Indeed, moving as articles like that covered above are, there is a story of love that represents the apex of all others, in which a Father reaches down from an infinite distance in the form of His Son and Spirit to save a people lying helpless, doomed to die, as a result of their infinitely offensive sin.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I found this searing piece in Men\u2019s Health\u2013not the typical source for articles filed under \u201csearing.\u201d\u00a0 But this essay by Hamilton Cain about his physically challenged son, Owen,\u00a0is one of the most life-affirming stories I have read in a long time.\u00a0 It\u2019s entitled \u201cMy Son, Solved\u201d and it comes highly recommended from another Owen. Note […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[418,1480,13176,2001,2106],"class_list":["post-1950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cultural-theology","tag-adam-and-eve","tag-hamilton-cain","tag-jesus-christ","tag-mens-health","tag-my-son-solved"],"yoast_head":"\nOwen's Story: A Life-Affirming Piece from Men's Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I found this searing piece in Men's Health--not the typical source for articles filed under "searing."\u00a0 But this essay by Hamilton Cain about his\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2009\/09\/owens-story-a-life-affirming-piece-from-mens-health\/\" 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