Trump’s treatment of others is shameful. He has no sense of compassion. Can’t we treat each other with kindness?
In 1817, a doctor, paleontologist and political activist by the name of James Parkinson, identified a shaking palsy that since has been known as Parkinson’s disease.
Most of us have likely known someone with this condition; perhaps watched it progress over time. The average lifespan for someone with Parkinson’s is around 14 years. Most don’t manifest it until later in life and often there is some family history.
There are numerous characteristics associated with the disease. The most noticeable is shaking and uncontrolled tremors. There may be stiffness in the body, instability in one’s movements and a slowing down as one walks. Then there are several other characteristics that are not so noticeable unless you are a caretaker: constipation and urinary urgency; sleep disorders and tiredness; eventually dementia.
In the early stages, you may be able to function normally, without too much difficulty. I recall my younger brother mentioning how he would sometimes have trouble hiding the shakiness in his hand while teaching his classes at Georgetown University.
He was a professor at Georgetown in international business diplomacy. He focused in the area of business ethics and wrote four books on the subject, as well as numerous published articles. My memory is he first experienced symptoms of Parkinson’s in 2012 or 2013, just before he was a visiting scholar that took him to Shanghai, China, in both 2014 and 2015.
In 2017, his book “Sewing Hope” was released. It is the story of an apparel factory in the Dominican Republic that pays its workers a living wage. It’s an argument against sweatshops, showing how one business can challenge the traditional assumption that sweatshops are economically unavoidable.
In the later stages of Parkinson’s it is difficult to talk and swallow. Speaking with my brother in this past year was often difficult. I could only understand a modest percentage of what he said.
And in the last days before he died, he was not able to speak or swallow. There were days without food or water. His wife and daughters were with him, and my sister and I were able to speak with him, before he passed.
I’ve known others with Parkinson’s. One was a member of a church I served. In his last days he became terribly angry and unruly. It was a difficult time for his family as his demeanor changed so dramatically. It was challenging to recognize it was the disease and not him.
Sickness and death of loved ones are not easy. But they can be borne with patience, compassion and love.
I’m remembering this morning a reporter for the New York Times, Serge Kovaleski, who had a congenital joint ailment. It’s much like Parkinson’s, with uncontrollable movements. Asking then presidential candidate Trump a question, Serge was later ridiculed by the future president, waving his arms around uncontrollably.
That hurt! Would he mock my little brother that way as well? Where is any sense of compassion for the disabled, for the ill? And these days, just to be a member of the press, may earn you the presidential title of “stupid,” or “piggy.”
Maybe a person can’t speak, or hear, or see, or stop shaking; or walk without aids; maybe they are fat or skinny and slow to understand; maybe they need a caretaker. Can the so-called leader of the free world temper his language and refrain from mocking others?
Can we all have compassion for others whatever the problem or disability? Can we refrain from laughing at another’s frailty?
Can’t we treat others the way we wish to be treated?
Carl Kline of Brookings is a United Church of Christ clergyman and adjunct faculty member at the Mt. Marty College campus in Watertown. He is a founder and on the planning committee of the Brookings Interfaith Council, co-founder of Nonviolent Alternatives, a small not-for-profit that, for 15 years, provided intercultural experiences with Lakota/Dakota people in the Northern Plains and brought conflict resolution and peer mediation programs to schools around the region. He was one of the early participants in the development of Peace Brigades International. Kline can be reached at carl@satyagrahainstitute.org. This column originally appeared in the Brookings Register.
Photo: public domain, wikimedia commons
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