Sticking Together

For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.

- Matthew 18:20

It can be challenging to work in an inclusive environment of mixed abilities and speak across able-bodied / disabled barriers. I'm always looking for creative multi-sensory activities that address diverse learning styles and abilities. One activity that never fails though is eating, and one thing we can all agree on is our love for sweets. 

Tonight I brought out a bag of M+M's and asked each person around our circle to pick out at least one and no more than five M+M's. After everyone had chosen their M+M's I placed colored topical cards on the table, with each color matching the M+M's and representing different topics (e.g. yellow=family, orange=sports, green=hobby, etc.). Each individual than had an opportunity to pick one M+M out of their hand and talk about that topic. 

One person opened up his clenched fist and with his other hand held up a brown M+M. My heart sank at the sight of the unmistakably brown M+M held high for all to see. Brown represented the topic "God", and I didn't know how he could possibly share anything meaningful about God, when due to the nature of his disability he was incapable of speaking.

There was an awkward silence and unsure how to fill the silence, I turned to others; "Do you have a question about God for him?" The lady sitting beside me shot her hand up eagerly, "Do you think God is awesome?" with emphasis on the word awesome to stress the outrageousness of her question. He looked up with deep trusting love in his eyes and smiled broadly at us; his confidence in the sovereign care of God apparent to all.

We all praised God for His awe-inspiring sovereignty and for being called together in God's wondrous presence. We all praised God, some quietly and others boisterously, for speaking to us through the most profoundly vulnerable, disabled person among us. From my heart, I praised God for exposing my disabling attitude and practices.

Brett Webb-Mitchell, author of Dancing With Disabilities, writes:

"A great many people with developmental, emotional or physical disabilities have been kept out of the church, because a great many people who appear 'normal' misunderstand the church. Families with and advocates for people with disabilities are often asked by church leaders, "What can they do in church?" or "What will they get out of it?" Some church leaders think of the church and God in pragmatic terms: You can only be a part of this exclusive club if you can do something, and you can't get something by doing nothing."

It was a misunderstanding on my part. My pragmatism had blinded me and I almost missed out on what God wanted to do for all of us, and what he wanted us to get, by sticking together in our dependence on God and inter-dependence with each other.