Last week, I attended a gathering of the ministerial study group I have belonged to for several years. We meet twice a year (fall and spring) and each time we have a topic we focus on, with reading done in advance. This time, our topic was Disability Joy and Justice. The word “joy” may at first feel out of place; many of us are used to hearing the phrase “disability justice” as one of many kinds of anti-oppression work we engage in and support both in and beyond our congregation.

The joy is important, though. It helps us move away from a concept of disability that imagines the lives of people with disabilities as sad or otherwise less fulfilling than the lives of those who are temporarily able-bodied (a term that acknowledges that all of us, if we live long enough, will experience various kinds of disability, ranging from temporary injuries to chronic or terminal conditions).

Sometime in the spring I’ll preach about what I learned last week; for now I just want to lift up that concept of claiming the joy in each of our lives—not to negate any struggle we have, physical or otherwise, but to understand that just as our community holds joys and sorrows side by side on Sunday mornings, each of our lives holds a complex mix of joy and sorrow (and many other emotions and experiences).

May you find joys, large or small, this week and beyond.

 

In gratitude,

Rev. Diana