Acceptance

While at St. Paul's United Church, my former congregation, I watched as the mother of two autistic boys worked diligently and passionately to give them a meaningful life. Her desire was and is to include them in the community of faith which was so important to her. There was nothing easy about this goal. More than once she got as far as the parking lot with the boys, only to have one of them make it impossible to walk through the doors of the church. The hope was to have them do something as simple as come forward for the children's time. But even sitting in a pew means restlessness and sounds which make mom nervous because it affects the rest of the congregation. One Sunday one of the boys did come forward, with the help of an attentive older brother. It happened that I was talking to the kids about acceptance that morning, in God's wonderful timing. Fortunately the congregation has been tremendously supportive, but how many parents have this level of challenge to just get to church with their family on a Sunday?

We've all heard about an incident just down the road from Bowmanville in Newcastle. An angry, cruel letter was written to a grandmother who looks after a thirteen-year-old autistic grandson from time to time in her home. The neighbour offered that the grandson is nothing more than a nuisance and that be euthanized --killed-- to control his noise. We can understand that the writer may not be aware of what autism is about, and honestly the vocal outbursts can be unsettling. But the cruelty and cowardice are totally unacceptable. Why not begin with a conversation rather than a cruel letter? The police have decided that the letter doesn't constitute hate mail, but it is hateful just the same.

Fortunately others in the community have been very supportive of the grandmother and family but it is shocking reminder of what autistic families face on a regular basis. We can only hope that the public attention  to what has happened will shame the letter writer. I' m not holding my breath. More importantly, it may promote greater awareness of autism.

All through Jesus' ministry he literally and figuratively touched the outcasts and the lowly. He lifted them up and healed them in many ways, including their sense of being children of God.

What do you think about the Newcastle incident? What about what we do in our congregations? Is there a place for those who may seem to be on the edges or outside?