It is a long and slow process for me, a well-educated and nondisabled white male, to appreciate and to pay attention to the ways that God is working on the margins. But whether it is in pausing my frantic productivity to gaze for a moment at crisp pin-points of light in the night sky or in turning my attention to a neighbour who does not use words to communicate, I am “Learning how to say ‘Hallelujah’ from the ones who say it right.”
God’s order is not our own, and the upside-down Kingdom is often led by those whom we might prefer to ignore or condemn. “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” the Pharisees demand. I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Pay close enough attention, he instructs, and if we’re quiet we will hear even the voice of these silent rocks.
I felt the presence of God so much more at the Family Retreat than I had anywhere else in recent years. Seeing so many people of all abilities joining together to make a joyful noise was a powerful experience. The love for God in that room was so strong that it was almost overwhelming. It felt like a preview of heaven.
In partnership with Christian Reformed Disability Concerns, the Christian Learning Centers (CLC) network has a helpful list of practical tips and resources to foster accessibility and inclusion which may be critical to a sense of belonging in your church.
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 her research referenced at the end of this post or connect with her by email to find out more! For the past three years, [...]
There God's presence was vivid to me because each of us was worshiping in spirit and truth, according to our abilities which He created.
Brian Doerkson's latest work revolves around "Level Ground," incorporating the worship band with the congregation and eliminating the traditional barrier between leader and participant.
