Shalom. It’s a Hebrew word often translated ‘peace.’ But the peace of shalom is so much more than the absence of conflict. Shalom refers something more like ‘flourishing.’ Shalom is the fullness of life resulting when someone or something experiencing its God given design. Shalom is harmony.
21 years ago our sweet David was born with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. Disorder on the genetic level. Not the way it’s supposed to be. We were told David would never walk, or talk and that his life would be short. We felt the weight of the world come down on us and crack the earth beneath our feet even as we celebrated the new life of our sweet David who could light up a room from day one.
21 years on, I see for his suffering and challenges David faces, he has been blessed with with some internal source of Shalom. He has a gift for sharing the light he Carrie’s in his soul with those who hurt and those who need to know they’re not alone. He has a sense of humor and a laugh that can and has literally lifted me out of depression.
With all that is in me, I wish my precious David did not have to bear the suffering of CdLS. And yet, I see how God has granted him this powerful gift as a conductor of the blessing of shalom. He helps me see and taste the rightness of the flourishing of God’s world as he intended. He halos me anticipate the day when all will be set right.
Happy 21st Birthday David!
Learn more about Cornelia de Lange Syndrome at cdlsusa.org
