[Faith-talk] perspective-taking

[Sandra Streeter]

Hi, all,

Ericka, thanks so much for broadening our perspective—bringing up the family with the autistic son and the one with the son in a wheelchair. It is all too easy for us to think we are the only ones in a particular scenario. I am all too aware of my own weakness in perspective-taking (another aspect of Asperger’s), so I do appreciate others’ points of view which help me expand my own. Belonging to church can be even more fun when you have hidden disabilities like learning or neurological-wiring  differences (I am a lousy auditory learner—I do fine with audios if I only have to capture a summary of something, but when I really need to study something or work with it heavily—music, poetry, instructional materials for learning a device, the Bible and devotional materials needed for liturgist duties, classes or otherwise sharing—I absolutely MUST HAVE Braille), Or, autism to an extent (unless you really know me, you wouldn’t pic up on the subtleties that point to mild Aspergers—though, a full-on melt-down in a more severely-affected person is obvious; but, the “why” is not obvious, so you can’t explain to onlookers that Mikey’s melt-down isn’t a normal tantrum or typical discipline issue). I also find, as someone mentioned, that mainline churches are generally more receptive to disabilities, probably because they don’t fixate on our supposed need for healing—but that leaves people like me with a quandary: how do you validate the belief in God’s healing while not forcing it on someone or making them feel like a blemish on the face of the church if they aren’t healed. And, because there are always ongoing expressions of that doctrine (or expressions of other ways to inadvertent closed doors to folks with disabilities), we end up having to be the teachers... AGAIN! Yeah, it gets tiring, but I cling to the Scriptural instruction: do not weary in well-doing. A thirty-something in my faith, I have a little more equanimity about things now than as a younger Christian, and my heart goes out to you, Naima. Please feel free to contact me off list:
sandrastreeter381 at gmail.com,
if you’d like to chat. I am a way-better, more-motivated writer than a talker, so phone is out, but email is great!

Oh, my, Ericka, I simply must change how JAWS pronounces B’hai—ROFL! (taking my own advice about caution with text-ese: rollin’ on the floor laughin’). It almost seems to insert a D sound in the middle of the word! thank God for the dictionary-manager!!!


Blessings,

Sandra
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Little Prince 


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus