Yesterday was World AIDS Day. Once a week I post my thoughts on the market, but during the week I work with patients living with HIV/AIDS. Most of the folks I help are in the advanced stages of the disease. I am proud to say that every person with whom I have worked have seen improvement in their lab values. Unfortunately, not every person referred to me has chosen to accept my services. Equally unfortunate is the fact I am only one person, and the need for assistance far outstrips the resources available.
I was asked to speak at my church this past Sunday in recognition of World AIDS Day. After the feedback I received from those who listened, I decided to share my words here. I hope you find them worth your attention...
Today is World AIDS Day. Given that I work exclusively with individuals who live with HIV/AIDS, Beth and Jay asked me to say a few words for the occasion. I had a difficult time bringing my thoughts and feelings together into something well-developed and structured, so I just decided to share with you the ideas I wanted to impart.
Since today is a service devoted to Joseph, I thought about what he and Mary must have gone through in their own experiences as unwed parents. It occurred to me how little we hear about their parents or their family. It made me wonder why they did not stay with an aunt or an uncle or a distant cousin when they returned to the city of Joseph’s origin. It made me wonder if they experienced the same reactions from their family and their community as many people who live with HIV/AIDS do today.
I wanted to share with you the types of people and issues that I see on a daily basis. There are the women who were infected by their husbands. Husbands whom were either stepping out or on the down low. There are the individuals who live with schizophrenia or some other diagnosis of psychosis, whose success with treatment depends more on their mental health care than their HIV care. There are the developmentally disabled, who are simply incapable of managing the complicated regimens that often accompany the treatment of advanced HIV. There are those who are dealing with substance abuse issues so profound that their addictions control them more than the patient’s own sense of self-preservation. There are some who live with one of these. There are some who live with all of these.
There is the patient who served hard time for a crime committed in his youth. Though he has served his debt to society and been out of prison without incident for seven years, he has been repeatedly denied full-time employment. Nevertheless, he reliably pays his bills by mowing lawns, cleaning industrial sites, and working odd jobs. This past week we got back one of his lab results, which was at desirable levels for the first time in years. When I told him how proud I was of his accomplishment, he looked up at me and said, “I just needed somebody to give a ____.”
We can focus on many different interpretations about the meaning of Christmas or how to win the fight against HIV/AIDS, but none can be clearer than this. It is now during this darkest time of our year that we celebrate a gift of light. God sent to us somebody who cared for us and loved us and forgave us for our flaws and our shortcomings, and who asked little more than that we do the same for one another. We may not be able to solve many of the world’s insurmountable problems, but sometimes all we really need to do is care.
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