In God's Wonderful Image: Remembering Dr. Paul Brand

BreakPoint ^ | 11 Aug 03 | Chuck Colson

[Mr. Silverback]

When Dr. Paul Brand met his first leprosy patients, he was told, "Nothing can be done with hands -- or feet -- like this. It's just leprosy." Translation: Deformed limbs are part of the disease; we can't fight it.

But as Eddie Askew of Leprosy Mission International observed in a funeral tribute to Brand last month, "just leprosy" wasn't part of Paul Brand's vocabulary. He discovered that leprosy deformities could be corrected, performed surgeries on thousands, and taught his skills to others who carry on today.

Part of Dr. Brand's success stems from the fact that he didn't merely treat the affected extremity. He viewed patients not as cases, but as God's creatures.

He also recognized the body as God's ally in the healing process. He wrote, "I have come to realize that every patient . . . , every newborn baby, in every cell of its body, has a basic knowledge of how to survive and how to heal, that exceeds anything that I shall ever know. That knowledge is the gift of God, who has made our bodies more perfectly than we could ever have devised."

He noted how our understanding of the body developed during his lifetime. For example, his professors called the thymus gland a "vestigial organ," a leftover whose usefulness humans had outgrown through evolution. "Today," he observes, "we can see from the victims of AIDS that people cannot survive without those immune cells from the thymus and bone marrow. A lot of biologists still cling to the idea of evolution by chance, but now it is scientists from mathematics, information theory, and computers that are forcing us to recognize that chance alone cannot possibly account for the code of DNA and the wonders of life. All of science points toward a Creator."

Among the many honors he received, the highest in the world's reckoning was his being knighted Commander of the Order of the British Empire. But CRISTA Ministries president Jim Gwinn pays an even higher tribute: "To know Paul Brand is to know Christ better. He evidenced [Christ's] compassion, grace, and mercy to all."

Paul Brand had a remarkable and wholesome attitude toward death. Listen to his own words, so movingly written about death: "One day I shall experience a sickness . . . unto death. I shall sense my mortal frame has no more strength to fight and that my pathway is leading into the valley of the shadow. Let me not feel the despair of one who is losing a battle, or that a triumph of evil is ahead. Focus within me, O Lord, the light of your eternal Spirit. Show me again that my body, for all that it is wonderful, is but the mantle of a greater wonder, my soul. Hold me, Lord, in such awareness of your presence and your love that my parting from my body shall be but the opening of a more vivid intimacy and union with the spirit of my Savior. He who has been the inspiration of my stumbling body shall now be the very light and substance of my soul."

At the death of Dr. Paul Brand, "we sorrow not as those who have no hope," for his legacy of faith and service inspires us and reminds us that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" for His good pleasure.

[Mr. Silverback]

Rest in Peace, good soldier.

[petuniasevan]

Amen.

[anniegetyourgun]

A great tribute to a great man of God. Thanks for posting it.

[anniegetyourgun]

Brand, Burkett, and Bright. July was a tough month for those of us still here. But how wonderful that they are now home.

[anniegetyourgun]

See #4.

[aspasia]

He viewed patients not as cases, but as God's creatures.

Always a good idea to keep the case distinct from the patient.

[billbears]

bump

[Marysecretary]

What a beautiful testimony of how Christ can use ONE person to influence thousands. His words are a true encouragement. M

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[Polycarp]

I did a two week rotation at the national Hanson's Disease [Leprosy] hospital in Louisianna in the early 1990's, and was honored to hear Dr. Brand lecture and then meet him personally afterwards. He was a great man who pioneered many of the treatments I use today to treat diabetic foot ulcers, as the nerve damage of Leprosy is similar to that of diabetes.

What a great Christian man and doctor. God rest his soul.

[Ff--150]

Never heard of this man, but he is in a much better place now--and forever.

[4CJ]

God bless Dr. Paul Brand and his family. The world has lost a good man.

[apackof2]

REV 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. [2] I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. [4] He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

[Salvation]

**"One day I shall experience a sickness . . . unto death. I shall sense my mortal frame has no more strength to fight and that my pathway is leading into the valley of the shadow. Let me not feel the despair of one who is losing a battle, or that a triumph of evil is ahead. Focus within me, O Lord, the light of your eternal Spirit. Show me again that my body, for all that it is wonderful, is but the mantle of a greater wonder, my soul. Hold me, Lord, in such awareness of your presence and your love that my parting from my body shall be but the opening of a more vivid intimacy and union with the spirit of my Savior. He who has been the inspiration of my stumbling body shall now be the very light and substance of my soul."**

What a beautiful quote.

[happygrl]

What an amazing doctor.

Thank you for posting. I first read his book In His Image about fifteen years ago. He also wrote Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and The Gift of Pain.

Much of his work was in India.

Another Giant of the Faith called home.