I believe that my kids are understood by their Creator, one who intercedes for all of us when words fail or aren’t possible. I believe that as complicated as they may seem, both Rachel and Janneke have purpose, a purpose that may simply be to motivate the rest of us to care and be more caring.
Are we deliberate in our own lives to welcome someone with a disability to our table? Are we careful to recognize that person by their name, who they are, rather than their disability?
Too often we fail to listen by forcing others into shallow cultural molds of what is socially acceptable. Instead, we must follow Christ’s example in welcoming those who are on the margins of society into the centre of community life.
We are made for community, for connection and relationship. One thing we all share is the need for a sense of belonging. We need to know we are not alone.
As an occupational therapist that works in a variety of different faith contexts, a great day for me is when I get to answer the question, “How can I start including people with disabilities better?”
What is it like to be a person with autism and to be a pastor of a church? That was a question that I was curious about until one day I found out that I had been one for fourteen years.
At eight years old I was diagnosed with autism. The educational specialists and doctors informed my parents that I would probably never read beyond a seventh grade level, attended college, or have a career. My mom was determined to prove the experts wrong by developing my unique gifts. As Proverbs 22:29 says, “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won't serve obscure men.” For me to develop my skills and be a minister I had to overcome five main autism quirks.
At face value, Jesus was engaged in the supernatural and people were being healed. Having worked with people with disabilities for two decades and now working with people in extreme poverty in under-resourced countries, I have been blessed to have a new lens through which to see this story. These people healed by Jesus had no hope. Their poverty and disability, in his day, relegated them to begging outside the city. Being healed enabled them to be known again in the general population. Healing brought them back to community.
I thought I had outgrown that keen sense of yearning, but then I became a mother of a child on the autism spectrum. I found a whole different level of yearning for all of the answers to be revealed as I contemplated an unknown future.
We are happy to welcome Nicole Reinders as a guest author for this post. Nicole is a PhD student in Kinesiology at Wilfred Laurier University. We encourage you to check out [Read More]
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