Curtis Klingle

The Gifted Ones

My dear friend, Lorenzo will turn 24 soon. I went to see him a couple of weeks ago at a Special Olympics meet where he was competing. I have known him since he was a child, and he holds a very special place in my heart. Lorenzo also suffers from autism. I am so hesitant to use the word “suffer” because there doesn’t seem to be any negative effects, to the contrary, a more apt descriptor would be to say that he is gifted.

I have always enjoyed being around him and other gifted people like him. There are those that might say that people like Lorenzo are inferior regarding some of the attributes which make us human, and I would have to agree with them. Unlike us, Lorenzo and those like him, are not adept at lying or cheating, manipulating others, being selfish, or expressing hatefulness. Perhaps with more training we could shape them into more “suitable” humans like the rest of us.

While one might view their “affliction” as something negative, I would have to disagree. Though they may not have the same level of logic and reasoning that the rest of us share, they actually surpass us in other attributes, primarily in love. They seem to be extremely gifted in this area. For example, even though many who have autism are not particularly fond of physical contact, they will often push themselves beyond this inhibition and initiate hugs and other displays of affection. If love is a matter of the will, then is this not an act of love? What troubles me is that I, who am deemed normal, when in a negative emotional state, cannot seem to initiate any form of love, yet here I find that those deemed “inferior” can and do. Who is really the inferior?

The next most remarkable thing about these extraordinary people is their honesty. There does not seem to be any filter, any facade, anything made up or put on like the rest of us. They do not don the mask which seems so intrinsic to our own lives. They are open with their thoughts and emotions to the degree that we may view it as a fault. They tell you what is on their mind and speak plainly doing so. I have often thought how wonderful it would be to be this way; to be so open, so honest, and to experience life so filled with love and joy. Would this not be an amazing way to go throughout life? I admire them for their simplicity. They interact with their world and others within their world with such boldness and truthfulness. They seem to view everything through the lens of love and trust.

This particular Special Olympics was focused upon bicycling. What intrigued me was the fact that there did not seem to be any real competitiveness between them. In fact, to say that they were “competing” or in a “competition” is something of a misnomer. I did not detect any sense at all of one trying to be better at something than all the others, in fact, there seemed to be mutual encouragement. That is the opposite of my understanding of what it means to compete.

How much of our time in this life is wasted through competition? We want to make a name for ourselves and to climb to the pinnacle of our chosen path with little or no thought of the myriads we must step on to get to the next level. How many have I crushed on my way to what I believe to be the top? What about the envy that results, and the attached resentment directed at the few winners of what we view as the prizes in this life? Envy is often thought to be a neutral word, or one implying admiration, but I assure you it is not. It is synonymous with the biblical word “covet.” You want what the possessor has, and you want it all costs, so much so, that you even feel resentment because they have what you do not. Once again it seems that those of us who are deemed the “normal,” the ones who have full use of our mental faculties, are in fact the crippled ones.

When I first arrived at the event, Lorenzo saw me walking across the field. I watched as he began picking his pace up to come greet me. I could see the joy and the love in his eyes at seeing his old friend. He is now taller than I am and when he hugged me, I sensed he was now stronger than me as well. He began telling me all about his first event (which I had missed) and all that had been going on in his life. Oh, the purity of his thoughts and the abundance of love.

As I mentioned, their honesty and unveiled emotion are always present, and sometimes even shockingly present. The riders in Lorenzo’s first group took the awards podiums to receive their medals from their first race. One young man ran up to the others, turned and faced the crowd while raising both arms high in the air and announced unabashedly, “I like girls!” He then quickly turned and took his place on the podium. Of course, the crowd all enjoyed a round of belly laughter at this.  

To be in the midst of this level of openness is so liberating. However, I will forewarn, it can be a bit intimidating at first. We, unlike them, are guarded, always wearing the mask of our identity, and this identity we “choose” for ourselves is so far from the ideal. It is an amalgamation of our desires, our inferiorities, and our fears. We employ the mask to protect ourselves, when in reality it functions as an inhibitor and a preventor of intimacy. I can see how much more fruitful our lives would be if we thought and behaved like the “gifted” do. What if we, the ones deemed the higher functioning human beings, were to take on the attributes of those that we deem as the lower functioning? What if we, who have the full use of our cognitive abilities were to be honest and truthful, completely naked in our thoughts and emotions, what would come of that? I have to think that this was the original intent of our creator.

In our current fallen state, none of us would want another person to know the evil thoughts that we have. All of the resentment, bitterness, malevolent thoughts that cross through our minds daily. How pitiful we are to think we are above these special people. We are so arrogant, supercilious, to even let that thought cross our minds. They are the real humans; I dare say that they are the real Christians.

It is this, their childlike faith that we must strive for at every moment of the day. I want that with all of my heart. To be free of that self, that thing that is a lie. I want my real self to be what others see. What I find is that this is exactly what is required of each of us, to die to the self in order to become the real self. To be stripped of the façade, that specter of humanity, and to don the mystery of the Gospel, Christ in me.

The more we give ourselves away, the closer we get to this goal. In this form of giving, we cannot take it back, it is forever in the hands, the heart, and the mind of the recipient. This is the dying to self. This is the way to becoming more like Him. What we find is that the more we give away, the more like Him we become. But it is more than that, the more of Christ that is in me, the less room there is for me. It is a gradual extinguishing of that old self, the façade, and the real self, the “christself” arising. Interestingly, the more we give away in this life, the more we receive, and in turn, the more we can give away.

I do not believe that these special “Olympians” are even aware of the love they give to others or the impact they are making upon others lives. They are void of pride and ambition and give of themselves freely. What a gift they truly are to us.

Jordan Peterson said, “We have no idea what the possibility is within each person if they lived a life that was maximally courageous and maximally truthful.” I submit to you, that we actually do get a glimpse of what that possibility may be in these “special” people.

I challenge myself as well as you to make every attempt to emulate them.

C. Klingle