July 2, 2010
Taking the Time to Make a Difference
A woman, a revelation, a smile
BY PAUL R. LEINGANG
(Listen to Paul read this column | Weekly podcast)
She begins tentatively, not used to public speaking, but has the courage to get up and tell her story. It is a powerful, personal, persuasive witness.
She lives in Evansville. Her husband is a deacon at the church they attend and support. She acknowledges that their income is not enough to pay for everything they need, and she admits that her own dental care was one of the things they didn’t think they could afford.
But problems neglected never get better by themselves, and eventually, she goes to a dentist for an evaluation.
The dentist says she needs deep cleaning of her teeth, an extensive process that will cost her $600. She tells the dentist she doesn’t have $600, and asks if she can pay for what is needed on an installment plan.
The dentist says his office does not accept such an arrangement, but he proposes a solution. He offers to clean half of her teeth for $300, and tells her she can come back for the other half when she gets another $300 to pay for it.
She leaves the office. She does not go back.
* * *
That incident happened a few years ago, but the details were revealed just a few weeks ago at a gathering of members and supporters of an organization known as Congregations Acting for Justice and Empowerment, commonly known simply as CAJE.
The early part of the story was developing at the same time as various organizations and individuals were listening to area residents about their needs.
The facts came into view from several sources. The local dental society was trying to help with volunteer services. The county health department was aware of the problem, but had as yet made no comittment toward solving it. Local hospitals were getting more and more emergency patients coming in for dental services that could have been prevented by regular, ordinary care.
The statistics were obvious. The personal stories were painful to hear, and harder to ignore.
Who among us could not relate to the personal, emotional reality of a woman with a toothache trying to hide her discomfort as she applied for a job?
Who could ignore the difficulty of getting across town to a Saturday-only volunteer dental service for an appointment — when you have no transportation yourself and the neighbor who promised you a ride has a family emergency?
Who could not feel the embarassment of years of dental neglect, whether because of personal choice or financial impossibility?
Who could ignore the common good of the community, or even the self-interest of community members? If you could ignore the personal pain of a neighbor, perhaps you might notice the unnecessary expense of emergency room care when routine dental services could have prevented the infection, the loss of wages and the other economic and social results of ignoring a community-wide problem.
Who could ignore the example of Jesus who gave eyesight to the blind and hearing to one who was deaf, and countless cures to a people in need?
* * *
The good news is that private and public organizations some years ago worked together and established a dental clinic, where people in need can pay according to their ability.
This happened because of the encouragement of Catholics and Baptists and Methodists and Unitarians and others. They helped those who had the resources to make a difference. They helped those who could make decisions to make those decisions. They helped make this part of the world a little better than it was before.
* * *
The woman who told the story? The one, embarassed by neglected dental care? She was the first patient at the dental clinic, she said. And then she smiled.
* * *
Take the time to listen. To see and to hear your neighbors and their concerns.
Some days, the best thing you can do is just to help one other person to be able to smile.
Comments are welcome at office@cfm.org or the Christian Family Movement, P.O. Box 925, Evansvsille, IN 47706-0925