Observations From Below: Angels and Demons

I recently had an experience at my church. A couple of weeks ago, before the service began, one of the church officials put his hand on my head (a gesture usually found to be against disability protocol). He began to compliment me and tell me how good he thought I was doing. I’m not the best at handling situations like this, because his intentions were harmless. It’s wonderful that he wanted to talk to me, but placing his hand on my head made me feel demeaned. I didn’t want to overreact in fear that I would scare him off, and he wouldn’t want to have a conversation with me again. So I chose to let the moment pass, while in hindsight, that was probably a missed opportunity for an education.

Generally speaking, my experience in my church has been pretty good. The greeters and ushers always receive me in a cordial fashion, along with the rest of the congregation. I attended Sunday school, up to the point of confirmation. The only thing I have left to do, is to get married or become a priest. I know many other people with disabilities that haven’t been as lucky in their religious experiences as me. Some congregations are still uncomfortable with disability, while others end up pitying the individual. Both of these are the wrong approaches, even though both ways of thinking come directly from the church.

A long time ago, disability was equated with sin. The sin was either a transgression committed by the individual with the disability, or a member of their family. The bible contains passages which lead some people to misinterpretation. One of my favorites, which still has present day consequences, can be found in the book of Leviticus:

Leviticus 21:16-23 (NIV)
16 The LORD said to Moses, 17 “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. 18 No man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; 19 no man with a crippled foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. 21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the LORD. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. 22 He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food; 23 yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.’”

If I ever wanted to become a priest, I would be ineligible based on the qualifications set forth by God in the Old Testament. Although I am thankful that I don’t have any festering or running sores, I do have a slight hunchback, as well as lame feet and hands. That passage was definitely not one of the top ten bibles verses taught in my Sunday school.

After some research on the internet, little was found pertaining to people with disabilities and their involvement within the church (either socially or in the clergy). To this day, many people with disabilities feel discouraged to follow a religious lifestyle. In 1978, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops came together to publish a statement with verbiage that requested all Catholic churches to be more inclusive towards people with disabilities throughout all sectors of the church. There is still criticism towards some priests who “believe a person does not possess the mental or physical capacity to participate in the church sacraments,” sometimes not allowing those certain disabled individuals to engage in some of their most basic and holiest acts.

Paradoxically, the same Bible also contains many passages praising people with disabilities, especially if they overcame their ailment through their use of faith, as shown in the book of Mark.

Mark 2:1-12 (NIV)
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.

People with disabilities aren’t automatically sinners or saints, we’re all on the same journey. In the passage from Mark, Jesus didn’t treat the paralyzed man any differently than the rest of the crowd. Churches should follow Jesus’ example of inclusion. The route to universal acceptance is getting on the right track, and we should have every opportunity to explore our spirituality in a harmonious environment, if we choose to do so.

That’s how I roll on Sundays…