We young people talk a great deal about altruism and generosity, about love between peoples, about overcoming racism, about breaking down social barriers. And yet the words "every man is my brother" stay just that—words—unless we actually live them out.
We who love and fight for the Arab child disfigured by war—perhaps we cannot accept the young man in the next apartment, broken by an accident or by some mystery of nature.
I believe that talking together is the best way to understand and see each problem clearly. So I feel called to share my own thoughts on this, humbly, I who until not long ago didn't even know what a handicapped person was.
I came to this group almost by chance, following a friend's invitation. And I stayed. I found friendship with these young people and with some of their parents. I came to give—but I received far more. I understood that I could no longer live without them.
We respect and care for a wildflower for the beauty and mystery hidden in it, for what we discover through it as if looking through a lens. And is a child—whether five years old or thirty—worth so much less than a flower?
Think about it. Imagine that one day this flower might spring up in our own home. It could be one of us. And I don't think we'd be happy if, through someone else's selfishness, we were set aside, ignored, sometimes mocked.
Let's think this through and act—openly and constructively. The step we need to take is always measured by the reach of our own legs. It's never too long.
- Maria Grazia, 1974