For the first time in my life I am in classes where the instructors are telling us that we can make a difference, we can change the world one student at a time. How empowering is that! I am so blessed to be in these classes. It is good that I decided to take these summer school courses now, because once the semester starts it won't be as idealistic, but more nose to the grindstone. It is a two semester program and I will be taking 19 units each semester. Yikes! So pray for me whenever you think of me. I will need the support and strength. I am a little nervous, but I am motivated by the students.
Which brings me to another point. Recently people have been saying, "Wow you really have a calling to work with this population" (I am studying to be a special education teacher) I don't really know what to do with comments like that. I am frankly offended by those words. The population I am choosing to work with are people, and aren't we all called to minister to people? For this reason I find this comment confusing. In the past, society has segregated this population and banished them, and the stigma of those actions still remains. They really aren't that strange or difficult. They are just different. Trust me I have interacted with all sorts of people, and I would gladly choose to hang out with some people with disabilities over some people without disabilities.
So is this a calling? I don't know. I don't think it is any more of a calling than the same urges I feel to give money to the homeless, shelter orphans, protect the abused, heal the sick, and feed the hungry. It is a calling to love those who bear the image of God. A calling to love those He loved so dearly He willingly died for. Yes I am seeking out a degree that will equip me to work in a particular community, but I see opportunities abounding around me to love. My neighbors, my peers, my coworkers. Is this not also a calling? And I am also ready and aware that at any moment God may lead me to Africa, England, or Latin America to love on people in His name. I look forward to it! So please understand the subtle insult aimed at those with disabilities that is embedded in those words "Wow you really have a calling to work with this population". They demand no more of me and you than any other group, and they are just as precious and valued in God's eyes.
I have not been called to work with the defiled and disgusting. I have been called to love a people who are worthy to be loved and to break down the walls of banishment and segregation. Weren't we all called to this? I have been called to fight for justice and truth! And I would gladly do the same for you if ever you need it.
5 comments:
amen.
I'd say that certain people are equipped to serve certain populations better than others. I would be a horrible teacher of junior high students but rock with the preschoolers, for example.
I'd say that the abilities and gifts required to work with special ed students are no more or less important than the abilities and gifts needed to work with preschoolers (or any other population), but to say that there isn't a difference seems inaccurate to me.
Of course, this isn't to say that we all aren't called to love and serve everyone we meet or that those with special needs haven't been segregated and discriminated in the past... Just that some people have special callings to serve certain populations and those that don't have those same special callings are often impressed (and sometimes flabbergasted) by those that do (I will never understand how someone could become a youth pastor!!!).
ANYWAY... Love and miss you!!!
Liz: Thanks for the feedback. I think it is hard for me to clearly explain my thoughts on this subject. But essentially, there is a subtle insult aimed at the people group I am choosing to work with when comments like "You must have a big heart to work with them" are said. Essentially they have created an "Us and "them" category, where the "them"s are inferior, and therefore require more of me. I disagree with that. I am not called to work with a group that is inferior and therefore harder to work with. Working with any group of people is hard. It is the people factor itself that makes it hard. If we viewed this people group as equals (as they are in the kingdom of God) then I doubt those comments would ever be said.
I agree with you that some people have greater skill to do certain tasks (Some are eyes, some are ears, some are hands and we all make the body of Christ), but I was mostly reflecting on the negative connotation given to those with disabilities, which is subtly implied by those comments. They are not a burden to work for, and God did not call me to work with "them" but rather to love his people. Everywhere, Everyone.
Don't know if that made sense. It is a sentiment that is greatly shared by my colleagues. I aspire to be like Mother Theresa, who saw not difference, and I suspect that is how God views things as well. We are all called to love!
Love and miss you too! :)
Ironically, as I clicked to make a comment I was thinking about writing, "amen."
Thank you for reminding me that everyone is made in God's image.
Dude- I miss your blogging!
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