Last Things First

Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

- 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

- Mark 10:31

I confess that when I first began working as a support worker with people with developmental disabilities I had a "teacher's complex". I was their "staff" and they were my "clients", I was a "professional" and they needed my expertise. To be sure, the people I work with do need various capacities of support, but something has changed over the years; I now see that the tables have turned as they have been teaching me about matters of the heart, the things that matter most to God. Consequently, I've been reordering my priorities and putting first things first. 

A coworker of mine referred to this field as an "education of the heart". It's possible for our minds to be overdeveloped, while our hearts are underdeveloped.  People with developmental disabilities have a remarkable way of reaching one's heart, encouraging me to grow relationally, and challenging my incapacity to freely give and receive love. Admittedly, I'm a slow learner, but my heart is unmistakably growing. 

God has evidently chosen the marginalized, often overlooked, rejected and unwanted, and turned the world's values of productivity, competitiveness and efficiency on its head. Those who have been pushed aside to the margins of society have a central role in God's up-side-down Kingdom. What if we were to provide space and learn from the perspective of those on the margins, looking at the world from an unfamiliar angle? I see this blog as an exploration of those creative margins, from the least likely and most unexpected places, moving in the way of the heart into the centre of God's will.