Making life’s work meaningful
Ihave a book in my library entitled Gifted Hands. It ranks among my most valued books. Gifted Hands is the true story of a boy who went from “class dummy” to becoming one of the world’s most “brilliant pediatric neurosurgeons.” There was a day when eight-year-old Ben Carson and his ten-year-old brother, Curtis, experienced great sorrow. That day began like any other day, but it ended very differently as their father left their mother, and Ben cried out in his hurt and frustration “Please make my father come back!” But that never happened.
When Ben’s father left, he took all of the family’s money.
Mrs. Carson had no job skills or work experience, so the only way she could support herself and her sons was by cleaning houses
and taking care of other people’s children. It was very hard work, but she was determined to do whatever it took to provide for her boys.
From Ben, being the dummy in his fifth grade class, his mother devised a plan to remedy his learning problem.
Their mother’s plan was to turn off the television and only allow the boys to watch three TV shows each week.
Then the boys could use the extra time for reading. So the TV was turned off, and the boys walked to the nearest branch of the Detroit Public Library and checked out a stack of books. This pattern of conduct transformed the learning process in the lives of Ben and Curtis.
There came a day when Ben finally graduated from medical college and Ben received an internship and residency at John Hopkins – one of most famous training hospitals in the world. During his residency at John Hopkins, Ben mastered the basics of neurosurgery.
Ultimately, Ben was asked to be the chief of pediatric neurosurgery at John Hopkins – he was only 33 years old.
In the process of his practise, Ben encountered a four-year-old girl that was having as many as one hundred seizures each day. As Ben studied her health records, he also studied a procedure called a hemispherectomy. It was a surgery in which one half of a patient’s brain is removed. In consultation with fellow physicians, Dr. Carson eventually perfected this practice that had never been
successful to that point in time. As a result of the success of that procedure, Dr. Carson became very successful in the process of separating conjoined twins.
In conclusion, I must say that the story of Ben Carson is a vivid illustration of the fact that it is not how one starts, but how one finishes in the journey of life’s work. Gifted Hands is a must read. Parents and grandparents ought to pass this significant book on to children and grandchildren.