I AM NOT AN ANIMAL - Jeff Calkins - February 1981

Jeff Calkins

The true story of the Elephant Man reveals a profound lesson about the incredible human potential. What is the measure of man? What makes a person uniquely human? What is the most important human quality? These questions are raised by the widespread interest in the story of Joseph Merrick, the "Elephant Man" of Victorian England. At one point Merrick was one of the most physically repulsive, loathsome men ever to walk on earth-forced to exhibit himself in a freak show on Whitechapel Road in London. But Merrick also eventually became the darling of London high society, a person renowned for his intelligence, gentleness and humility. His life story is so moving that it has become the subject of at least two books, a Broadway play, and a popular movie. As newspaper columnist George Will has remarked, Merrick has come a long way since Whitechapel Road. Merrick's story, and our natural interest in it, tells us much about the dignity and grandeur of the ultimate human destiny. It does so because it tells us about human character. It also reveals why God's way of giving brings good results. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library