The Lesson Of Isaac Lufkin

     Watching Isaac Lufkin move through his daily life, no one would conclude that he is disabled, least of all not Isaac himself. The young Mr. Lufkin was born with no arms, but it has not kept him from becoming a kicker on his high school's football team. The 14 year old Isaac rejects what some might call a disadvantage with his matter of fact statement, "I don't want any one's pity, pity only makes me weak." This extraordinary young man is not only special in and of himself, but he is the result of special parents. He is certainly not the result of modern parenting techniques applied by so many parents that create self-esteem monsters whose only goal is to be receptacles of pity and victimhood.
     Isaac Lufkin is more agile than many of us who have two arms. From using his chin and shoulder to grasp his cafeteria tray and carton of milk, to employing his legs and head to dress himself in his football uniform, including his shoulder pads, Isaac does all the things that anyone with two arms does and more. On the football field, Isaac does not simply kick the ball and run off the field, but runs down field to help tackle the opposing player who was on the receiving end of his kick. Isaac also engages in another teen past time of using social media and the Internet by employing his feet to operate his computer.
     Isaac is truly a breath of fresh air in a society that has become more and more corrupted by a Leftist ideology that teaches young people that they are the axis upon which the earth spins simply for existing. Isaac wants nothing, save that which he achieves of his own grit, determination, and industry. This 14 year old wants to someday be a kicker in the National Football League, and I fully expect that he will achieve that dream. In fact, this young man will be successful in life no matter what his field of endeavor.
     The lesson of Isaac Lufkin is that the truly successful and happy person takes the cards that life and fate has dealt him and lives life to its fullest. Once as a young man, I was complaining about some problem I was having and a priest friend of mine told me, "That is not a problem. Come to me with no arms and tell me about your problems and I will then show you a man with no arms and no legs." That lesson has always stuck with me and has once again been realized in Isaac Lufkin. Isaac lets it matter little that he has no arms, he considers himself blessed to have two legs with which he can operate a computer keyboard, dress himself, open car doors, and kick a football better than anyone else. He knows that the secret ingredient to life is not the things which are external to a person, but the power of heart and mind to accomplish in spite of hurdles and obstacles.