My LVAD (Living Very Appreciative Days)
WITH GREAT POWER COME GREAT RESPONSIBILITY!

Sometimes we ask ourselves, “Why Me?” My answer to that question is “Why Not You!”

Sometimes we see what seems to be an unfavorable situation as a curse or a punishment. But in the view of God, it’s an actual gift and/or blessing that sometimes goes beyond our ability to comprehend. He truly Knows what we know not!

A New Messenger!

In the quiet rooms of his thoughts, Mekye often considered the rhythmic pulsing of his heart as the silent music of life itself—a cadence so familiar, so intrinsic to his existence, that its constancy was as taken for granted as the rise and fall of the sun. However, that rhythm was abruptly disrupted when his heart, the drum of his life, began to falter and stumble in its beats.

The doctors spoke with a clinical detachment that belied the gravity of his condition. Heart failure—a term so stark it seemed to echo endlessly within the walls of his mind. The options laid before him were stark; the installation of a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), a mechanical pump to support his heart, or to eschew the device and face an uncertain and likely brief future.

Mekye had always embraced his faith as a cornerstone of his identity, a source of strength and comfort through the tribulations of life. But as he lay in the sterile embrace of his hospital bed, the ceaseless beeping of machines punctuating the silence, his faith wavered. He questioned the wisdom of a God that would bring him to the precipice of life and death, who would strip him of the one organ that was emblematic of life itself. Doubts, like shadows, grew long in the evening of his soul.

“Why, Lord?” he whispered into the dim light of his room, his voice a blend of despair and defiance. “Is this the fate you’ve ordained for me? To be bound to a machine, my every heartbeat a mechanical echo rather than the divine spark you breathed into me?”

Days bled into nights, and Mekye wrestled with his fears and his faltering faith. In this crucible of uncertainty, something within him began to shift. It was in the stillness, in the quiet spaces between the beats of his failing heart, that he found a fragile peace. He began to see the LVAD not as a shackle but as a bridge between life and death, a miraculous convergence of human ingenuity and divine grace.

Slowly, Mekye’s heart began to mend—not the flesh and blood vessel within his chest, but the spiritual heart that had been burdened by doubt. He came to understand that his new life with the LVAD was not a curse or a punishment, but a unique gift. It was a testimony to the boundless creativity of God, a demonstration that even in our most profound weakness, the Almighty could manifest strength.

Through his journey, Mekye’s perspective transformed. The machine that hummed alongside his heart became a symbol of his survival and his renewed faith. He saw that his understanding of life’s purpose was but a single drop in the vast ocean of God’s incomprehensible knowledge.

Mekye emerged from his ordeal as a living testament to God’s power to transcend the impossible. He became an emblem of hope to those who were lost in the throes of their own despair. His story resonated with people, his heartbeat—a symphony of human and divine—became a beacon that drew others to see God’s work in the world.

His steps through the world were met with curious glances at first, the soft whirring of the LVAD a gentle reminder of the fragility of life. But Mekye wore his scars like medals of honor, and he shared his story with an open heart. He became known as a Superhero for God, a man whose very existence defied the odds and whose spirit soared beyond the confines of human frailty.

In the end, Mekye’s life became a living sermon, his every breath a praise to the God who had given him a second chance. He had been broken, yes, but in his breaking, he had been remade—stronger, wiser, and with a heart that understood the true depth of gratitude. His message was simple yet profound: in our darkest moments, when our hearts fail us, and we feel most alone, that is when God’s work within us begins. And that is when we must be still and know that He is God—a God of impossible miracles, boundless love, and eternal life.

By mabdussalaam

Creator and C.E.O. of Interfaith Library A competent and dedicated educator & theologian, with over 30 years of theological teaching experience as an Imam and spiritual advisor.

One thought on “A New Superhero!”

Comments are closed.