Last Friday, I was on my way to attend a
painting class. There was
another event in the Town Center and it was crowded. I found a place to park on the second floor
of the public garage. There were two
elevators to get to the first floor. I
use a scooter and I waited at the elevators as car after car arrived but was
full. Just when I felt I would never be able to get
to my class, an elevator arrived which was about half full. As I entered the elevator, a person on the
elevator sighed loudly and said, “Oh, God!”
Welcome to the world of the disabled.
As the result of an automobile accident 15
years ago where my knees were crushed into the dash of my car and accelerated
osteoarthritis, I have found myself exiled into this world. I have struggled with adjusting to a place
without my familiar strengths and abilities.
I have a new image of my future possibilities. I have resented and resisted accommodation
for my needs. Letting go of the past and
looking forward to a different future than I had envisioned continues to be a
struggle.
Many people
believe that the issues that affect the disabled don’t really concern them, however,
with an aging population and advances in medicine, more and more people are
finding themselves challenged and attempting to live in the world where they
don’t fit in and their requirements are a nuisance to themselves and others. Often they ask God, “What am I doing
here? Where are you?”
Reading from Isaiah brought
to mind the concept of living in exile.
In my study of Hebrew bible I was impressed by the period of the Babylonian
exile. I attempted to understand what it
was like for the Israelites to be banished from their home. The importance of tradition, the importance
of the past, the complications of the feelings of guilt, and how they would reconcile
the concept of being "chosen" and yet finding themselves in such a
difficult situation. The prophet recounts and
refers to the past and yet in verses 18 and
19, the prophet calls to forget the past and to perceive this new thing that God is
doing. Are the Israelites being asked to
remember the past or forget it? The imagery recalls Exodus and the years in the
wilderness. The form of Isaiah is
poetic. It seems to me that this section
could be part of an epic poem about the challenges to the Jewish nation.
The context of these verses is Israel in
captivity. There
are very few records concerning the exile of the Jews in Babylon. Murphy notes
that the exile is not “just material devastation but a challenge to its entire
world view." The Jewish god no longer has the temple and god's
people are disbursed. There is no monarchy.
The Jews were troubled
about how to continue to worship their god when so many of his promises
apparently had been broken." The
role of the prophets is to penetrate the despair and
hopelessness of the situation. In second Isaiah the prophet attempts to
bring hope to the people by reminding them of the faithfulness of god in their
history. The verses and symbols which
call to mind god's rescue of the Israelites from Egypt tapped into the identity
of the people. The
phrase “I will make away in the wilderness" brings to mind the years that
were spent in the wilderness on the way to the promised land. Wilderness has a special connotation to the
Jewish people. The prophet also speaks of the
lord making " away in the sea" all these words and phrases have had the
meaning for the Israelites. It is impossible for the Jewish
people to forget their past history and their relationship
with god. In verse 19 where the prophet
speaks of the new thing springing forth offers hope. Those things that are remembered as showing
god's love and care and power will be diminished by the plans that god and the
actions that god is taking now and in the future to care for his “chosen
people". This time god will give
his people water in the wilderness in abundance. There will be "Rivers in the
desert". The Israelites no longer have or need an earthly
king, their king is the creator. Their
king is god. The prophets use words to overcome despair and create an
alternative vision of hope.
Chapter 43 in Isaiah can be a spiritual resource
for inclusiveness of the disabled in the church community. Isaiah 43:8,9 states “bring forth the people
who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! Met all the nations gathered together and let
the people's us amble" is cited as an old Hebrew scripture passage
pointing that the will of god is that all people be included are included as
his chosen and created.
I had an interesting experience when I was
being treated at the National Rehab Hospital.
I was in another world. Nearly
every patient there was using a mobility device. In this setting I was
normal. To the staff of doctors, nurses
and therapists I was nothing unusual. I
was not defined by my disability. My
identity didn't start and end with my use of a mobility device. It was a minor aspect of my treatment. I felt relieved not be a spectacle or something
to be commented
on. My inabilities were not in the forefront in
any interaction that I had with others. This
experience was a revelation to me. It
challenged me to consider a world without boundaries. It made me question how much of my
limitations were from without and from within me. I had a glimpse of a reality were everyone
was just a person. They were not defined
or limited by ability or gender or size or color or background. We waste vast amounts of time and energy
placing people in categories.
This brings me to consider myself and my
ministry. I work as a chaplain at a
hospital and regional trauma center in Central Pennsylvania. As result of my ministry I engage in
attending to those hospitalized and their families. I am called to hospital rooms, the emergency
room, the trauma center, the outpatient chemotherapy areas, the heart procedure
floor, palliative care and in labor and delivery. Each of those persons that I meet is being
challenged with exile from their former life.
They are adjusting to being an inhabitant, whether temporary or
permanent, in this
different world where
body or your mind or someone that you love is in a new world. Like the Israelites they wonder, “What have I
done to deserve this? Why me? If God
loves me and cares for me, why is my child so ill? Why is my husband’s heart
failing? Will my mom die of this
overdose? Am I here forever?” I don’t pretend to have the answers. Their time in exile may be temporary or
permanent. I’ve been doing this long
enough to know that the best gift I can give to them is to listen attentively
and without judgment to their fears and laments. And I do not preach. My mission is to be the presence of God in
the situation. I listen attentively to
their thoughts, worries and concerns. Usually
at the end of our meeting we pray. I may
be incorporating some sections of Isaiah into the prayers. The reassurance that the prophet gave to the
Jews as a message from God is valid thousands of years later. When we are isolated in a threatening place the
knowledge that the Creator is present and cares is powerful. The message “Behold I create something
new. Do you not perceive it?” resonates
in 21st century Pennsylvania as it did in 6th century
Babylon.
This is also an important message to me. In spite of the disdain or disregard I
sometimes receive from those who are certain they will never be in my place I
have trust and joy in God and God’s plans for my life. At the beginning of my physical challenge I
could never have imagined the new thing that God had created in me. I could not
perceive it. However, now as an elderly,
disabled chaplain I find fulfillment that I never experienced in all those
years of chasing paychecks and promotions.
I hope that the person on the elevator may never discover what it is
like to find them exiled to my world. I would
encourage them to use those hearty legs to walk down that one flight of steps
with gratitude.
