Just Get On With It

Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe wrote a set of essays in 1999 entitled, "A Healing Family," about life with his handicapped son, Hikari, aged 30 at the time of the writing. Oe writes how upon finding himself with many handicaps that limit and tax him, Hikari nevertheless continues to focus on his life habit of music composition. Hikari's dad says of his basic tenacity in the face of his disabilities:

I received a letter from him: "It's no good...I should never have lived to be twenty." But, though he may have felt that way at times, he has never acted on those feelings, never just given up and stayed all day in bed. And this surely--the fact that he actually gets up every morning looking forward to seeing his friends at the training center, that he takes a certain pleasure in the contents of his lunch box, that he comes home and listens to records or throws himself into his composing--all this is evidence of his own basic resolution to "just get on with it." And it is true that this resolution has been one of the cornerstones of our family life.

Hikari's resolve reminds me of one woman's biography found in the Bible. Naomi, the mother-in-law of Ruth, who eventually became King David's great-grandmother, was devastated over her husband and two sons' deaths while refugees in Moab. One of her dead sons had been Ruth's husband. When Naomi returned to Israel with Ruth, the townspeople could hardly believe it was she. "Is this Naomi?" (naomi in Hebrew means pleasant.) She retorted, "Don't call me Pleasant, call me Mara (or bitter)." And yet, when she saw Ruth's resolve to find resources for food and permanent dwelling, Naomi herself began to hope in their future. She encouraged and coached Ruth through the process of courting Boaz, until the day came when Naomi held her grandson in her lap. The townswomen said to her,"Boaz will renew your life and sustain you in your old age." She did not disagree this time. In spite of horrendous setbacks Naomi and Ruth got on with what life they had been given, eventually reaping a benefit.

Arthur Greeve, C. S. wrote his lifelong friend, C. S. Lewis, that he was anxious about the slow progress of his career. Lewis replied, "It is not your business to succeed, but to do right: when you have done so, the rest lies with God."

May this beginning of a new decade be one in which no matter what our limitations, setbacks, fears, and discouragements, we will take a deep breath, say a prayer, and just get on with it.

The rest lies with God.

Postscript: You can listen to samples of Hikari Oe's compositions on Amazon.com.