When we think of people with disabilities, too often we tend to think of people who are weak and require our care. Yet, in his epistles, St. Paul implies that weakness is not a characteristic of an individual or a particular group, but of the entire church. Disability does not affect only certain individuals, but involves all of us together as the people of God in a broken world. It is our world that is shattered, and each of us comprises one small, fragile and precious piece. We all hold the treasure of God’s life in earthen vessels (cf. 2 Cor. 4:7). Yet we hold it; and, what is more, we hold it together.

The idea thus is that we are all vulnerable, and our vulnerability is our common disability. Thus, an attitude of distance towards people with ‘pronounced’ physical or mental disability amounts to an insincere attempt to look away from our brokenness and limitations. In our attitudes and actions towards one another, at all times, the guiding principles must be the conviction that we are incomplete, we are less than whole, without the gifts and talents of all people. We are not a full community without one another. Responding to and fully including people with disabilities is not an option for the churches of Christ. It is the church’s defining characteristic.

Interdependence is therefore the key here.

May we who are made in your image, O God, mirror your compassion, creativity and imagination as we work to reshape our society, our buildings, our programmes, and our worship so that all may participate. In you we are no longer alone, but united in one body. Trusting in your wisdom and grace, we pray gratefully in Jesus’ name.

Adapted from, Arne Fritzson and Samuel Kabue, Interpreting Disability (2004), 87