Read: John 9:1-41

The man answered, “Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes… If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.

The Fourth Gospel is making a point here to challenge prevailing concepts of disability. It seems the religious leaders in this story understood the fact that the man was born blind as a sign of God’s punishment upon him for moral failings. If there is any character in this story with a disability, however, it seems to be the religious leaders passing this judgment. Their disability is their lack of compassion, which in turn seems to me to show their own need for healing in their relationship with God.

The irony of this story is that it is the religious leaders who cannot see. The man born blind can see just fine. He can see God at work right in the moment and see God’s messenger.

We support people around us with disabilities by letting them tell us what they need and then responding appropriately. We encourage their gifts for ministry in the church. We hold in check our own assumptions about how they view their own situation.

I knew a woman in a congregation I pastored who was born blind. She told me she didn’t have any desire to change her situation because she’d developed so many other ways of “seeing” as a result. She sang in the choir and read Scripture beautifully. She was whole. Joyful. She had obviously done a lot of spiritual work.

Her story is her story. Others will have another story, another struggle, another process with illness, disease, or disability. The important thing is to listen and support and affirm the love of God in which we stand and do what we can for each other.

Holy One, I thank you for those among us who teach me so much about how wholeness looks, even when they live with a disability. Lead me always to listen and learn and discern what I can do. Amen.
-Fr. Jonathan Weldon