Sunday, July 20, 2014

A Most Extraordinary Story


by Christina Carson

There are some books that present stories that would be impossible to imagine were they not true. And There Was Light is one of those. This is an autobiography of the first 21 years of Jacques Lusseyran, and though it might seem strange to write an autobiography of such a short and usually less than eventful period of one’s life, Jacques Lusseyran’s first 21 years were extraordinary.

Blinded by an accident at 8 years of age, this good-natured young boy never missed a step because of it. In fact, because he could no longer look out toward the world, he became aware of an inner life that is within us all, only he became involved with it and learned from it such that he developed an inner vision and awareness that grew over the years to serve him in all manner of capacities. He offers some of the most vivid descriptions of what he encountered and how he learned to function more fully as a result of it that I have ever read.

Where the book begins to take on epic proportions is when 17 year-old Lusseyran organizes a resistance group in his home country of France, which by then had been taken over by Germany in WW II. He manages to survive prison and 15 months in Buchenwald concentration camp and his descriptions of how he managed that are unlike anything you might have encountered from other survivors of such living hell.

This is not only a story about an unusual man but also one describing the equally amazing consciousness within us all, and what is possible were we to develop it as Lusseyran did. There was no mind numbing sadness in this man, no sense of victim or despair. His played to joy, deep friendship and an abiding optimism, in a life most could not have endured even as a sighted person.

This blind man has something to teach us all about seeing.


8 comments:

  1. Inspiring! Thanks for shedding some light on this hidden gem.

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    1. You are most welcome. It is definitely worth one's time to read.

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  2. In addition to this outstanding review, I've had the good fortune to hear snippets from the book as you read it - now I'll hike over to our Amazon account and put the book on my Kindle. Thank you very much.

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    1. Great. Then we can share more of it without my ruining it for you.

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  3. Hi!!! I have so many blnd friends and each one has a different story of how they SEE with SOUL. THe latest one is Jim, a man out here in the country of NE Mn who " saw my circular antique saw" on line for sale and called me about it. He told e he was totally blind and had a huge workshop where he made clocks. The saw would become one of those.

    Blind since three months , and seeing LIGHT a bit then nothing after Laser surgery, his mom allowed him to cut with a chainsaw, use tool,s build things, and do all manner of LIFE exerpiences. He lives outside of VIrginia, Mn here and has 40 acres and lives with a friend there. He saws down threes, cuts fire wood target shoots his gun out there, drives his four wheeler around his property, and has a ham radio. I asked him how he SAW things and he told me by" facial reflection." in other words, SOUND bouncing off the objects for him defines how they look and appear to him. A curb, for example, will sound different as he approaches it, so he steps up. ( he uses not cane or anything).... People, SOUND first then he sees them....he said he has bumped into lots fo things, but has learned how to facially sound them out on his memtal map. My other friend ANn Godwin from the MN STATE ACADEMY FOR THE BLIND in Faribault, Mn, teaches three totally blind and deaf chidlren. She has to have an interpreter for each child, and Ann will sign the message to the individual interpreter, then that person will sign it to the individual deaf and blind student and they can then do the work on the computer in braille. Ann is LOVED by her students, and by all of us...she also cooks, cleans, has two gorgous daughter,s one grandson, and does all her own housework and cooking. SHe teaches all day at the blind school, walks places, and yes, has driven( ulp.....) when I first met her she stood still said nothing adn then said: You are uncomfortable with me aren't you?" ...well she had a knife in her hadn and was cutting meat, so yep, I was...she was right!!! Amazing folks prooving we do not see with eyes at all, but with our souls.....THank you for this reminder today of these folks...my son is one as well who sees everything, yet the doctors say he only can see the BIG E...well, you will never know it. Makes me want to do hundreds times more than I do.....motivational for sure. lol oh and one more guy..Pat Shannahan, Erick's buddy...he is mascott for the Mn VIkings football team...walks along Hennipin Avenue in MPLS...singing and goes to his favorite bar, restaurant and has tons of friends who love him...... To The Second Sight....lol---Merri

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    1. Wonderful stories, Merri. I remember a delightful blind friend of mine who said, he had to go blind to see, as he unraveled his life and family problems and arrived at the other end a deeply happy person.

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  4. Lovely - thank you for sharing this Christina!

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    1. It is well worth a read for so many reasons. If you do,share your thoughts with me.

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