As our dialogue broadens in examination of the various issues surrounding faith, its meaning and pursuit, let’s not brush too lightly that web of aspects physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual bound up in the matter of access to faith.
Disability – congenital or acquired -- is among the most intimate of affects which can both govern and confuse along the way in following a path to “clarity of soul” and a coming to terms with self and belief.
In the search for perfection, those most “imperfect” by the norm face a conundrum of contradictions and blocks if they chose a path toward faith. Often the degree of devastation which flaws may cause lead away from it rather than empower. The question “Why?” comes into singular focus -- with particular vehemence for those raised in many of the organized belief systems. For these individuals and those who know them, the impact of disability challenges and colors beliefs where “shortcomings” are as erringly associated with punishment as with rights of purification or strengthening.
Frailties impassion questions involving faith and belief more than any other human condition. Are there any commonalities of truth on the subject among the myriad perceptions one may see through an individual lens? In broaching access to society and faith, there is broad interpretation evident among countries, cultures and ministries.
Reaching a place of faith in the abstract -- if one cannot walk, see, hear, or even conceive with the same ease as others – requires an additional set of sensibilities. Attaining the multidimensional pursuit and exercise of faithfulness, across the full range in which disability is manifested, holds important consideration in the discourse. So too does the need to contribute and be recognized as equipped to contribute equally to the dynamic of religious community.
The acceptance of self and others to the point where the ephemeral plane of belief may be tested is difficult enough. But the achievement of connection – not only to participation in, but to an understanding of the implicit “piece-fullness” inherent in recognizing divinity within the breadth of creation at faith’s core -- is all too often overwhelmingly confounded by layers of deterring tradition and stereotype.
Does the “woundedness of spirit” which disability engenders and those various physical and mental challenges we each to some degree encounter in our daily lives cloud, clear or distract from a path to faithfulness -- or form instead bridges? When an answer to all of these can be “Yes”, the notion deserves more than just peripheral acknowledgment.
Confronting limits is both instructive and essential in the journey of heart and mind to find that perfect trustfulness which is requisite for a commensurate founding of inner peace and faith absolute.
Mark Sakaley is senior policy adviser with the U.S. Department of Justice. In addition, he has been an outspoken advocate for the rights of people with disabilities since an automobile accident injury in 1974 left him a quadriplegic and wheelchair user.
