ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠWhen our daughter Amelia was at Children's Hospital in Washington, we met a young man named Mattie Stepanek, who was also a pediatric intensive care patient. Mattie at that time was 12 years old and had a rare form of muscular dystrophy called dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy which interrupts some of the body's normally automatic functions, like breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, digestion, and the like.
ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠMattie had become famous because of his soaring spirit, his remarkably positive life philosophy, his precocious wisdom, and his incredible courage. He counted the likes of Jimmy Carter and Oprah Winfrey as friends and had published some books of poetry. When Mattie died in July of 2004, President Carter delivered Mattie's eulogy and said that he had traveled to 122 countries, met kings and queens, but “Mattie was the most extraordinary person I ever met.”
ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠMattie's first book was entitled Heartsongs and it became a national bestseller. He said that “your heartsong is your inner beauty. It's the song in your heart that wants you to help make yourself a better person and to help other people do the same. Everybody has one.”
ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠAs we approach the new year and all of its infinite potential, I was reminded of one of Mattie's poems and thought I'd share it with you. The fact that it was written by a child makes its poignant and positive message all the more powerful.
Resolution Invocation by Mattie Stepanek
Let this truly be
The celebration of
A New Year…
Let us remember
The past, yet
Not dwell in it.
Let us fully use
The present, yet
Not waste it.
Let us live for
The future, yet
Not count on it.
Let this truly be
The celebration of
A New Year,
As we remember
And appreciate
And live rejoicing
With each other.