Mosaic Series – In God’s Image – “Treasure in Earthen Vessels”

Written by the Rev. Doris R. Powell

I WAS THIRTY-TWO. I’d just been backpacking in Colorado and was painting my house when I began to experience mysterious symptoms: swelling and pain in my hands, then an elbow, soon my shoulders, knees, and ankles. I went to work swathed in ace bandages. Within two months, I’d been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
Continue reading

Encountering the Disabled God

Reprinted from The Other Side

Written by Nancy Eiesland

I have been part of several congregations whose practice of receiving Eucharist includes filing to the front of the sanctuary and kneeling at the communion rail. Often, because I am either in a wheelchair or using crutches, an usher alerts me that I need not go forward for the Eucharist. Instead, I am offered the sacrament at my seat after everyone else has been served.
Continue reading