In 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 Paul lists the handicaps and discouragements that befell him. He also had a physical problem of some sort - a 'thorn in the flesh' - to keep him from becoming too proud.

At the age of 39, in the prime of life, polio struck Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He couldn't walk, stand without support, and was, as one doctor put it, 'a goner below the waist'. Look at this proud, wealthy, famous man who felt terribly humiliated being carried up and down stairs... and so hour after hour he'd crawl over his library floor like a child, and day after day he'd haul his dead weight up the stairs by the power of his hands and arms, step by step, slowly, determinedly, until he was covered with perspiration and trembling from exhaustion. But then he would try again - and again.

But after this illness, Roosevelt's name became synonymous with help to the downtrodden, the weak, the helpless, and the fearful. Describing this transformation of character, this moving from surface to depth, from cleverness to compassion, from haughtiness to humility, John Gunther says that 'polio was God's greatest gift to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.'

May the example of these brave people spur me on, too, Lord. If they can do it, so can I. Here we go! Amen.