|
EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 12 |
CHRISTMAS 1997 |
HOW COULD THEY DO
THIS TO ME? Edges
Magazine report on the story of Lilly's Life. She spent most of
her life locked away
"I am not
stopping here to die". Lilly's determination enabled her to see
that dream come true. Holding her frail hand, in the privacy of her
home, a few days before she died, enabled me to share in her joy of
freedom. After spending over forty years in what came to be known as a
mental institution, personal liberty was granted to this lady of
courage in the evening of her life. Living in a terrace house for the
last fourteen years of her life, resulted in her embracing that gift
of autonomy. On the 25th October, 1983, Thames Television ,presented
the documentary, " Don't Look Back". It described the life
of Lilly and two other ladies who had spent almost all their human
existence isolated from the outside world, deep in the Lancashire
countryside. Lilly was confined to this form of institutional living,
not because she was mentally defective, her only defect, if that's
what you want to call it, was that she caused a problem to the
authorities. Orphaned at the age of thirteen, she was sent to a
convent, but didn't like it because she was made to pray several times
each day. On numerous occasions she would run away. Her running away
was an expression of her confusion and a call for help; consequently
the authorities kept transferring her from place to place, eventually
it was thought that the only place that could deal with this
rebellious youth was an institution for the psychologically
unbalanced. In those days it was known as a mental institution.
The world was at war; Lilly was also about to experience an inner
war that lasted the biggest part of her life. "There was nothing
mental about me", Lilly calmly expressed. "When I arrived it
was evacuation time, all the doors were locked, it was like being in
jail. In the early days we were made to get up at 5.30am and help out
in the dormitories; we would wake up the physically handicapped and
give them a wash. A full day of duties would then follow".
Listening to Lilly speak reminded me that history provides us with a
tool, that enables us to look at the mistakes of a previous society.
Victorian values were still operational in Lilly's early years; values
implemented by God fearing people who attended church. Although we
cannot really blame them for their misconceptions, we can learn from
their blunders. Mistakes have been constantly made ever since the fall
of Adam. A break down in communication takes root in the history of
humanity and Man's revolt against God will be the foundation of a
fragmentation in human relationships. Confusion and misunderstanding
will reign in the midst of life. In Lilly's early years such people as
prostitutes, drunkards, unmarried mothers' were locked away; although
society has changed its attitude regarding its perception of how to
deal with moral defectiveness, the cries of the voiceless still rise
up daily in contemporary society. Under different disguises we see the
Lilly's of our world crying out in the wilderness. Society
always finds it difficult to understand those who do not fit into the
standard norms. Subconsciously, we can be guilty of closing our minds
and refusing to understand the various peoples' whose ways of living
are incompatible with our own understanding of life. Normality and
abnormality have never been able to live side by side; yet when people
express their peculiarity and eccentricity, we can find the very
uniqueness of their individuality. Developing a theology and a
ministry with various peoples' on the fringes of society makes me
consciously aware of the difficulty people face in changing the mask
of their appearance if it does not fit in with the general norms. The
reality must be, that the mask does not need to be changed, if
underneath the surface, the values of the kingdom can be found.
In those final days of Lilly's life there was no animosity
expressed for what happened in the past. Like the Mandelas of our
world, Lilly carried her cross while travelling on the road of life.
Yet, her attention was not focused on the actual carrying of the
cross, instead her mind was inspired by the one nailed to the cross.
He gave her the vision to hope. Through the years of her institutional
life, she prayed; looking back at her life this enabled her to see
light in the darkest moments. Eventually her span of freedom would be
terminated by cancer. The carrying of the cross became very real
again; however, her experiences of the past taught her to hope when
there was despair. Facing death with courage and faith exhibited her
integrity and solidarity with the suffering Christ. Her life
personified the words of St Paul to the Romans, "if God is on our
side, who can be against us". Words that are meant to inspire the
many people in our country who are confined to the edges of society.
Lilly was a victim of bullying high-mindedness of a bygone
age.
Edges Reporter |
|