Today Wednesday, December 31, 2003, as a challenge to begin a new year, I am starting a journal to record my thoughts as they occur. First, however, I want to look back at some things that molded or contributed to my personality. The idea to write this all down came as a result of sending an article from “Our Daily Bread” entitled “Unanswered Prayer” to several people on November 30, 2003 via E-mail.
The devotional encouraged its readers to read the Bible passage in Matthew, chapter 26, verses 36 through 44 where it talks about how Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane in Israel and asked them to wait for Him whiled He prayed the following prayer: "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will," then "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
The author, Vernon Grounds, made a parallel between Christ’s prayer and a friend afflicted with an illness for which there is no medical cure, yet God seemingly denies repeated requests for healing. He then cited an article by Carol Bradley that tells us about the wisdom of Craig Satterlee, a seminary professor in Chicago. He was legally blind since birth, with only 20 percent of normal vision, yet did not complain, saying that he believed wholeheartedly that God had given him something even better.
"I am whole," he said, "even though I am legally blind." He went on to say "I don't believe in the power of prayer. I believe in the power and presence of God, so I pray." He added, "We know that God brings light out of darkness, life out of death, hope out of despair. That's what Scripture teaches us."
I realized prayer isn't a way to get God to do whatever we want. It's an expression of our trust in His power, wisdom, and grace so that no matter what we ask God to do for us, we are to have the attitude of Jesus, who said, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
My electronic mailbox contained several responses to what I intended by the forwarding of that devotional message. One that I would like to draw the reader’s attention to said
“Ken,
When I got saved I asked GOD to just take away my pain which was on a level 10--10 being the greatest. Immediately is was gone--never has it returned to that level.
Even though the disease still ravages my body daily, whenever I'm in the Word and the Holy Spirit empowers me, There is no physical manifestation of the disease in my body--no pain of any kind and no suffering.
I acknowledge my disease--just not where it comes from. God heals me on a daily basis. After all, ‘HE restoreth my soul. ‘”
I wrote back:
“Your life is definitely a testimony to God's grace! I will have to say though that everyone's experience can't be the same as yours!
Take my life, for example...I would not sacrifice my spiritual growth as a result of this physical handicap and it's daily spiritual enrichment for any physical healing. Oh, yes, this could change if I suddenly got worse, but, for now, I'm seeing new blessings from our Lord that I couldn't sense before the accident! I "should" have died but didn't--that was a miracle. I "should" have been a 'vegetable' but am not--that was a miracle. I should be in extreme debt because of the thousands of dollars in medical bills but am not--that's a miracle. There are at least three miracles that I am enjoying that I couldn't without having had my accident. This would sound strange and ridiculous to anyone who's never experienced "godly sorrow" or spiritual regeneration, but my accident was actually a blessing and my present condition reminds me of that. I'm in the process of writing a booklet regarding this subject: How God Turns Adversity into Opportunity.”
There are a many books on the subject of how God turns trauma into blessing and even some television shows that point out how human near-tragedies turned into victories. My example is not necessarily a rare nor astounding case of study but it does give a down-to-earth look at how God meets our needs in ways that we sometimes don’t understand or even agree with!
Things to put somewhere:
I recently looked through a box of “momentos” of my motorcycle accident of 2_ years ago and was impressed by the magnitude of friendship and caring that was exhibited! I received dozens of packaged, hand-made, hand-colored, & computer-generated cards, hand-written notes & letters, pictures & drawings, & gifts (including monetary) from Church kids, my doctors, relatives, friends of friends, the Glenwood School (my daughter’s school at the time) PTA, office staff, principal, teachers & kids, our Sunday-school class, people of other churches and Christian organizations, clients and potential clients from my DJ business, co-workers and supervisors, professional acquaintances from my DJ business (some people that I’ve never met or known)--even E-mails from people around the world (thanks to a friend & member of my Church). I even found some cash in one card after all this time! I have grown emotionally, mentally and spiritually quite a bit since then. I believe I can appreciate the sentiments expressed more now than when they were actually received—if you are one of the aforementioned groups or individuals, please accept my gracious and most sincere thanks!
I don’t remember much before, during, or after the accident, but now that some time has passed, I would like to offer my assessment of the experience and relay some of “life’s lessons” that it taught me. It sorta explains why I’m where I’m at and how this newsletter got started…I’ll try to be brief AND not bore you too badly!
One thing I learned was that while ice cream is good for the brain (the brain “eats” sugar) it’s not so good for the mid-section! At one of the rehab places, this was “our” favorite!
One of the last things I remember that I did before the accident was read my Father’s Day cards. Apparently (looking back at a calendar I kept weekly) I worked one of my three jobs the night before July 17, 1997 from midnight to 8:30 AM(!) and then went off to my second job from 9 AM ‘till 2 PM (about 30 miles away from my home town) and on the trip back home I plowed into a stopped pick-up on the freeway! I did have some mobile DJ jobs lined up for the weekend, plus several more lined up through December — Patti had the refund deposits and line up substitutes — she did a commendable job! If I had only known how good she was, I would have hired her for the office!
One of my daughters (Kendra Leigh) came out to visit for her birthday on July 2. Another daughter, Evie and her son Isaiah were out from Missouri visiting with me in California just before the accident and one of the last pictures taken before was of us at a local pizza place. She was scheduled to fly home on the following Monday, but she didn’t want to leave until there was some kinda “sign” that I was going to make it! I guess that sign came while she was visiting me in the hospital—I opened my eyes!
I’m told that I “conversed” with one hand (a raise of my fingers) so I guess I understood a few things—which leads me to say, “NEVER GIVE UP on the supposedly ‘goners’!”
Now for those of you who don’t know what happened, all I can say is…”either do I!” Actually, I pieced together a few bits of info to kinda figure out what may have happened.
From the Traffic Collision Report, comes this:
I crashed into a quickly slowing (from 65 mph) Ford Pickup headed for LA, south-bound on the US 101 Freeway in Thousand Oaks (in Southern California) on 7/17/77 and was investigated at 5:48 PM. I was driving a ’83 Yamaha 750cc motorcycle. I was found on my back in the center divider--I careened out of control into the center-divide retaining wall. Injuries reported at the scene included “basil scull fracture, fractured ribs and clavicle and a collapsed lung.” There were three drivers who were noted as witnesses, but I have never approached them concerning what they recalled, although, the witness directly behind me stated that I “applied my brakes but was unable to stop” which indicates I was not asleep as some folks have suggested! I was transported to the ICU of a local, nearby hospital.
From our Church bulletins, comes this:
7/20/97
PRAYER REQUEST: Ken Hennessey was in a motorcycle-automobile accident on Thursday evening. He is in a coma in Los Robles ICU. Pray for his full recovery. Pray for his wife, Patti, and their family during this stressful time. The hospital requests no calls or visits at this time.
7/27/97
CONTINUE TO PRAY: Ken Hennessey remains in Los Rabies ICU following a motorcycle/automobile accident that took place on Thursday, July 17. He is making very slow but steady progress in his recovery. He still sleeps most of the time but he does respond to commands. His lungs are clearing and so is the blood in the brain fluid. He continues to run a low-grade fever and is taking antibiotics. His doctors are encouraged. Patti is thankful for all the encouragement and support she has received from so many people. Continue to pray!
8/3/97
REMEMBER IN PRAYER: Ken Hennessey. He is making progress. He is off the respirator and is making efforts to speak. Continue to pray for his full recovery—[THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A REASON!]
8/17/97
CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR: Ken Hennessey (rehabilitation therapy at St. John Hospital in Oxnard)
From some hearsay comes this:
An ambulance was only a few cars behind me and stopped to rescue me even before the call for help went in!
A girlfriend of my daughter-in-law saw me, pulled over, and actually held me in her arms—she didn’t know who I was until she called Tracy and told her the “news.”
Someone suggested I fell asleep on the road, causing the accident—that is very believable, considering the long hours I kept and my tendency to doze while driving—however, a witness suggested otherwise.
For the first time in a long time, I decided to wear my padded motorcycle gloves and leather chaps.
I stayed in the first hospital until Aug 8th (nearly a month), transferred to a nearby rehabilitation hospital, where I did a major portion of my physical rehabilitation from mid-August until mid-September (another month), transferred to a “rehab home” for a couple of months (where my “cognitive” thinking and speech was ‘fine-tuned’), and finally did some rehab at home with physical and occupational therapists for 4-5 months.
There are more “hospital stories” that are funny, pathetic, frightening, boring, gruesome, and …, but I’ll spare you the details! I guess I did come on to a few nurses, though! (as if I could have done anything about it!), but to summarize:
From a near-death experience to now has given me a lot to think about. My main thought has always been THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A REASON! I can’t walk without a cane, but I went from on my back in bed to a wheelchair to a walker to a cane so I’m doing better than was expected. I’m closer to my family. I’m closer to my friends. I’m closer to my God. In many ways, I’m a better person though for some of you this seems like an illusion. All I can say is “you have to have been there…” I have a great compassion and respect for people who have ANY sort of personal disability, whether it be physical, mental or spiritual. We were meant to grow in all these areas but sometimes we don’t until we are forced to. The biggest challenge, in my opinion, is not the person who cannot overcome his physical handicap but those of us that cannot overcome or even (sometimes) recognize our mental or spiritual ones!
Well, that’s the biography of my post-incident life. It has led me to this point of publishing an E-zine to continue to express myself. I don’t speak too well anymore, but I have “always” had a knack for writing, so this is one area that I will continue to pursue (and hopefully, improve!) I have had a passion for two things since grade school—technology & communication—God kept me alive at least long enough to both continue to develop the skills and to use them to make a difference in people’s lives! [Maybe you’ll be one of them…feel free to comment on this at ken@khennessey.com]
