Category Archives: Clergy With Disabilities

Queries, Solutions, Shared Stories

UCCDM Lenten Devotional-Who Do You Say That I Am?

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This is the eighth in the UCCDM Lenten Devotional 2014 series. This devotional reflection comes from Rev. Kelli Parrish Lucas, UCCDM Secretary. Her bio cam be found on the Board of Directors page.

Maundy Thursday

Genesis 12 ; Gospel of John 13, 18

It occurs to me that Sarai, the wife of the patriarch Abram, has something in common with Jesus. Both had their identities betrayed by someone they loved and trusted.

Earlier in this Lenten season we found ourselves confronted by the call of God to Abram to leave Ur, when we follow that narrative to Genesis 12 we find Abram and Sarai called again to leave for a new land. This time they are traveling from Haran into Egypt. Verses 10-20 are often left out of the lectionary which stops at verse 14. It’s almost as if the lectionary is trying to avoid the issue of true identity as it is fully raised in the text. You see, in the narrative Abram asks Sarai to pretend to be his sister rather than his wife. Thus, Sarai briefly becomes one of the wives of Pharaoh. When Pharaoh discovers this he returns Sarai to Abram and sends them on their way.

We don’t hear Sarai’s thoughts on these events. We can imagine what a wife might say to a spouse who asked her to pretend to be a sibling rather than a spouse. But that is not in the text. What is in the text is that Sarai’s husband had to the power to change her identity, to say who she was. Furthermore, we see that Abram’s redefinition of Sarai’s identity leads her to yet another identity completely.

It is Maundy Thursday, Jesus has gathered with the disciples in the Upper Room to celebrate the Passover feast, to wash their feet, to proclaim that his body and life are given for them (and us), and to proclaim his coming betrayal. The text tells us that it is as Jesus does these things that the decision is made in Judas’ heart to betray the Master. Jesus even tells Judas to go and do what must be done. Judas, one of the twelve disciples, one of Jesus’ trusted friends is the one who betrays him. It is Judas who must decide who he thinks Jesus is, and then based on that decision Judas will collude with the powers that be. It is Judas who will signal Jesus’ identity with a kiss in the garden.

In both these texts the issue of personal identity are the key issues. In both of these texts someone else decides whom the other is and takes action that will radically alter the both the life of the other, the life of one deciding who the other is, and the unfolding of history.

As a woman with disabilities, many of which are hidden, I know what it is like to have others decide who I am. I know what it is like to be “in the closet” of disability, to have relationships in which there is little knowledge of my disability, and the emotions others show when I let my full identity be known. I know what it is to be vulnerable with others to let them know the depths of my experience and have to trust that they will know with whom and when to share that knowledge. I know what it is like to feel that trust betrayed. To watch at the annual school-house parent night as your parent outs you sharing with the teachers about your disabilities in front of classmates and other teachers. I know what it is like in the workplace when co-workers sense there is something different about you, but not knowing what it is decide they will name it–and name it wrongly. I know what it is like when others redefine your identity such that it disrupts and utterly re-routes your own sense of self. With disability it is not so much identity politics as it is identity of individuality/self that is intertwined with the experience of living in a body so different from the norm that the very world around you is rife with barriers that disable. Life with disability is asking each individual you encounter, in some way–who do you say that I am?

Loving God, You who know me better than I know myself. You who created me to be fearlessly and wonderfully made. Help me to know myself, to share myself, and delight in the friends I break bread with. Empower me to raise my face even when others define me in ways that threaten my identity or life. Grant me Your strength and love, to always know myself, and to do Your will. Amen.

 

UCCDM Lenten Devotional–Cornerstone

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This is the seventh in the UCCDM Lenten Devotional for 2014. It is written by Rev. Jeanne Tyler, Vice Chair of UCCDM. Her bio is on the Board of Directors page.

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.-Psalm 118:22

I like to play with images and words. They help place me in my experience of the world.  In Psalm 118, we hear or read, verse 22, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”  Now, this is interesting. A cornerstone is a foundational stone marking the corner of a building.  It is one significant stone. Being the chief cornerstone makes it even more of a significant stone.  But, the builders rejected it. And yet, someone dragged it back and placed it well so it became the chief cornerstone. Is not this interesting and intriguing, particularly on Palm Sunday?  We know the story of Palm Sunday when Jesus enters Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and the people greet his entry with palms and shouts of Hosanna!

Who among us has not experienced rejection because of a perceived flaw? Most builders want to build an enduring building and they look for stones that match their ideals of “significant” stones. So, how is it possible for a rejected stone to become the cornerstone? How is it possible for people with disabilities to place ourselves at the cornerstone? We are often rejected. We are not good enough, we are not smart enough, we are not political enough, or we are not significant enough to become a cornerstone. What value do we offer in centering the walls of an enduring building?

We offer our humanity; judged as perhaps insignificant, yet created in the complexity and mysterious Image of God. We who cannot hide nor deny our full humanity offer our very bodies as testament to the love of God. In language of covenant, we are grateful to the creation and to Jesus who becomes the cornerstone of our faith; unexpected yet acclaimed.

Prayer  Holy One,  give us hope and grace in ourselves as we are.  It is a great paradox that the stone rejected by builders becomes the chief cornerstone.  Thank you for the diversity of creation and for times of being the chief cornerstone.  Amen.

UCCDM Lenten Devotional–Old Bones

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This is the sixth in the UCCDM’s Lenten Series 2014. This reflection for the sixth Sunday in Lent comes Rev. Lynda I. Bigler, Chair of UCCDM. Her bio is available on the Board of Directors page.

The Lord’s power overcame me, and while I was in the Lord’s spirit, he led me out and set me down in the middle of a certain valley. It was full of bones.

He led me through them all around, and I saw that there were a great many of them on the valley floor, and they were very dry.

He asked me, “Human one, can these bones live again?”
I said, “Lord God, only you know.”

I prophesied just as he commanded me. When the breath entered them, they came to life and stood on their feet, an extraordinarily large company. ~~Ezekiel 37:1-3, 10

Have you ever felt like a worthless pile of bones?  Undervalued?  Overlooked?  Uncared for?  Discarded?  Stranded in the middle of nowhere, watching all of life’s actions swirl around you without you?

I did. I was eleven years old. It was a particularly bad week. First, my classmates decided it was the right thing to do to let the visually impaired kid make a home run in soft ball before sixth grade ended.  I’d never hit a soft ball in my life. I always struck out. I couldn’t see the bases so I figured it was just as well I never hit the ball. I had no clue where to run.  But that day, they decided I needed to get a home run.  It started by allowing me to barely hit the ball. Then the first, second, and third basemen missed catching the ball  when  it was thrown to them. And then somehow I made it home before the ball did. I guess they figured I wouldn’t hear them discuss the Plan or argue with each other as that all played out. There is little lower than being the object of someone else’s good deed for the day.

It was the week those of us on the safety patrol who were moving up to junior high school got our awards for being good safety patrol members.  As I marched forward to get my award, I guess I wasn’t supposed to hear how I’d only been put on the safety patrol because I could buddy up with my best friend who was sighted.  Besides, it seemed to be the right thing to do.

And then there was the sixth grade dance. I didn’t know how to dance and the boys I liked were certainly not interested in me. But I was on the dance committee because I was a girl and that’s what girls did.  At the committee meeting, the head girl said I couldn’t do anything except bring napkins because I had no other abilities.

I told my mother about all these things. She told me that it was all part of growing up with a disability. Time I just smiled my thanks for their kindnesses and get over it.

I felt as lonely as those old bones.  Even though those bones ended up in that valley as a result of physical violence, emotional violence put me in the same spot. If all I could expect from life was being someone’s good deed or a token or being prejudged for what I could do, then I might as well be among that pile of bones, too. What kind of life was being offered to me that was better?

Few people talk about depression in children because they believe it to be imagined or learned behavior or even just acting out for attention. Not so! Adult friends with disabilities also talk about their childhoods and/or teen years  in which they experienced depression and contemplated suicide like I had experienced. Some of them acted upon their contemplations, but I did not.

Just like those dry bones, God resurrected me. Just like those dry bones, God can resurrect each of us to a new life, a new life in which we can find value and be valued. Resurrection for me meant learning how to channel my anger resulting from social injustice and putting that energy into educating myself to the best of my ability. Resurrection meant learning I had a Voice and how to use it. Resurrection for me eventually meant empowerment.

Ezekiel says there was an extraordinarily large company of us coming back to life: perhaps like were those who are different because of disability, skin color, sexual orientation, culture, or mental health issues , brain injuries, developmental or cognitive disabilities. We are those at the margins of life who are discarded like Ezekiel’s old bones. By sharing our stories we discover how similar our stories are. By sharing our witness, we share our strengths and our value as a People, a People who can effect change.

“Widening the Welcome” Conference Presenters Make Important Trip to the White House

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Rev. Alan Johnson and Rev. Craig Rennebohm of the UCC Mental Health Network and UCC Disability Ministries Board of Directors traveled to the White House to meet with President Obama and others during the White House Conference on Mental Health. As a UCC representative to the White House Conference on Mental Health, Rev. Johnson was encouraged to join with the newly formed UCC Mental Health Network to help reduce stigma around mental illness. Rev. Johnson has long been involved with the leadership of the Widening the Welcome Conferences. Both Rev. Johnson and Rev. Rennebohm will be continuing their work to reduce the stigma of mental illness within our churches and wider culture by presenting workshops at the upcoming fourth “Widening the Welcome: Inclusion for ALL” Conference.

There’s still time to register for the one day Widening the Welcome Conference, June 27th in Long Beach, CA. Click here for Widening the Welcome Brochure and Registration

The Rev. Susan Gregg-Schroder, Founder Mental Health Ministries, will be one of two keynote speakers at Widening the Welcome. We’d love to have your congregation join the UCC movement of inclusion of people of varying disabilities, apparent and unapparent, including those with mental health challenges.  Please, if at all possible, have a member of your congregation attend the Widening the Welcome Conference so together we can continue to extend God’s extravagant welcome to all people.

Watch Alan’s trip to the White House for this momentous occasion: http://youtu.be/i0zbJI9rQEU

Submitted by Rev. Alan Johnson; edited by Rev. Kelli Parrish Lucas

UCC DM Board Member Featured in UC NEWS

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The Rev. Bob Molsberry, Ohio Conference Minister, is featured in the UC NEWS article, “Going the distance, Conference minister embraces competition.” Written by Gregg Brekke, the article appears in the upcoming December 2008 -January 2009 issue as well as online at www.ucc.org.