First, as a community, we cannot abandon our wounded. They still have something to offer—perhaps the very thing we need. Second, our wounds and mistreatment—whether the ten-year abandonment of Philoctetes or the much smaller wounds of our lives—do not wipe out our obligation to serve. Being hurt by life does not diminish our duty to others. Even wounded and mistreated, we owe to others the labor that can make our lives glorious.
