Ricky Tsang was a pillar in our Duchenne community for years. From his website DearRicky.com to his Facebook group We Are Dystrophin, to his first book, Ridiculous: The Mindful Nonsense of Ricky’s Brain, Ricky’s priority was helping and advocating for our community – well, that and romancing women.
Shortly before passing in 2016, Ricky shared the manuscript of his second book with me. It was never published, but now we would like to share it with our Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy community.
The Way, the Truth, & the Life
“Inspirational: My Big Mechanical Derriere”
—Chapter 3, Part 3—
Although I eventually stopped caring, I never lost interest in religion. I was always the thinker, and being a food lover, one could never get away from drooling thoughts. Considering the notions of bread, I wondered about its significance in the Bible. Why did it represent our needs? Was there more to the loaf than we thought?
God is incredibly clever and has a great sense of humor. I realized that although our daily bread was for human sustenance, it was also designed as a subtle form of evidence to prove his existence. Many of us have failed to recognize this obscure factoid, brushing it off as a figure of speech.
Thinking upon the stories, I remembered all the way back to the time of Genesis when people lusted after heaven and erected the Tower of Babel. As punishment, God divided us into separate nations and created different languages. How was bread in every culture? Was it a coincidence that we had Jewish challah, Chinese mantao, and English muffins?
Everyone knew the recipe since humans populated Earth. After much confusion and chaos, however, most of our ancestors only remembered a part of it and improvised. Therefore, the secrets of divinity lied within flour and water, and maybe a little yeast. Bread is proof that the Tower of Babel was real, and so nothing could deny the existence of our Heavenly Father!
Silly as it seems, this anecdote played a key role in securing my curiosity. Despite finding myself, something was still missing in my life. That was until August of 2009 when I started listening to online sermons by pastor Anderson, who was shouting about this, that, and everything in between. I needed a good kick in the pants and was getting excited for the sake of Christianity.
It was unheard of as I never failed to fall asleep during services. All they ever taught was to “love your neighbor as yourself”, without yelling and screaming against anything. I learned nothing and ironically, didn’t feel loved.
Unlike what I used to think, after learning of eternal security, I understood there was a humility that came with believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. The free gift of salvation had nothing to do with good works. He gave his life for this sinner saved by grace and I was passed from death unto life.
Looking back, it’s amusing how I thought I knew God. I thought his laws were illogical and that modern science contradicted His words when I didn’t even read the entire Bible. When I thought that I had to live a good life, I refused. Yet upon realizing that I was liberated, I chose to read it on a daily basis and strive for better.
So no matter how many times I tell my tale, and how many say that I’m inspirational, there’s one story from eternity past above all others. I’ll never say that I’m a survivor of Duchenne when the only reason I’m alive is because of Him alone.
And that phase when I cried? It didn’t last long. I’ve questioned my capacity to endure in tears, but risen from the darkness with a smile because, through his gratitude, Grandpa taught that the world owed me nothing. From a simple “thank you”, I know nothing except God’s gift is free. My inability to do certain things doesn’t give me an excuse to give in or give up. It gives me motivation to work harder.
Why me?
Because sometimes things just happen. Sometimes they’re out of our hands. This is about taking control of our abilities and making good of the qualities we possess. This is about walking through adversity.