Believing in Prayer

About fifty years ago, Paul Coates, a popular writer of the Los Angeles Times, suffered a stroke. For several days his life was in danger. Then he began to recover.

After returning home from the hospital, he delighted in surprising his wife with the various things he could do. Then, one day, it dawned on him that though his powers of physical movement were improving, his faculties of communication were not. He could barely talk and he could not write at all. Nothing could be more frustrating for a writer than a disability such as this. It became obvious that Coates would have to go back to the hospital for special treatment. He did so with a heavy heart.

Then a remarkable thing happened. Coates was sitting in the recreation room of the hospital, feeling sorry for himself. 　　 He then felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see the smiling face of a middle-aged lady, "Don't worry, Mister," she said, "I'm praying for you." As the lady turned and walked away, Coates noticed that she had to drag her right foot and that her right hand hung limply at her side. She too was a stroke victim.

Paul Coates is a man of faith, and he believed that this woman's prayers had power. He also appreciated her kindness in walking over on her bad leg to cheer him up. From that point on, he noticed something which had escaped his attention before. It was the spirit of his fellow patients. They seemed more concerned about each other's suffering than about their own. In spite of all the suffering which was borne in the hospital, the atmosphere was filled with cheerfulness and vitality.

Coates joined in with the spirit of the other patients and found himself once again on the road to recovery. He was back at his own job, writing newspaper stories.

祈りの力を信じて

　約50年前、ロサンゼルス・タイムスの有名な寄稿家ポール・コーテスが脳梗塞で倒れ、数日の間生命が危ぶまれたが、やがて回復に向かった。

　コーテスは退院後、彼がいろんなことができるようになったと喜ぶ妻を見ると嬉しかった。ところがある日、彼の身体的機能は回復してきているが、意志を伝える機能が回復しないことに気づいた。かろうじて話すことはできるが、書くことはできない。ものを書く人にとって、これほどみじめなことはない。コーテスは、特別な治療を受けるために入院する必要のあることがわかり、重い心で入院した。

　そんなある日、一つのできごとがあった。コーテスが沈んだ気持ちで娯楽室にいた時、だれかが肩に手をおいた。見上げると中年の婦人がほほえんでいる。

　「ご心配なさらないで...。あなたのために祈っています」と彼女は言った。彼女が離れてゆく時、コーテスは彼女が右足を引きずり、右手も力なくたれていることに気づいた。脳梗塞の患者であった。

　ポール・コーテスは厚い信仰を持っていたので、この婦人の祈りとその力を信じた。そして、悪い足を引きずって元気づけに来てくれた彼女の親切に感謝した。このことから、それまで注意を向けなかった一つのことに気づいた。そこの患者の精神である。みんな自分のことより、ほかの人の苦しみを思いやっている。その結果、入院中の患者にはさまざまな苦しみがあるにも拘らず、病院の雰囲気は陽気で活気に満ちていた。

　コーテスはこの精神を見習い、そして彼自身、再び回復の軌道に乗った。

　その後彼は仕事に戻り、新聞の記事を再び書き始めたということである。