The great temptation amongst us as we try to articulate a gospel that speaks to the human condition is that we shall indulge once again, as Christendom has so often done, in the sin of reductionism, i.e., that we shall minimize or even trivialize the actuality of human suffering, and so end with religious “answers” that are premature and shallow.
[via God and Human Suffering]
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In daily interactions with people dealing with significant disabilities and their caregivers who are on 24/7 watch, it is easy to see why our forefathers thought that people with handicaps were possessed with evil spirits. At the risk of sounding like I’m making a “premature and shallow religious observation,” it seems to me that ALL of us have disabilities, but that these issues are just more visible in the lives of people with significant autism, developmental disabilites, traumatic brain injury, etc. Again, at the risk of sounding like Polyanna trying to “explain away” the suffering issue, I’ve spent enough time with these folks (some for as long as 28 years!) to know that genuine, precious individuals with unique gifts lie beneath the crud of visible disability – individuals who make contributions to God’s kingdom in their own way.
Yes, thank you, exactly.
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