As many of you know, last week (May 26
th
– June 1
st
) was National AccessAbility Awareness Week (NAAW) and a busy week it was! Since the week was so jam-packed for me, I’ll likely split the retelling of my week into 3 or 4 posts.
For me, NAAW started with a very cool, unplanned occurrence, which happened at my church. Without our minister (Mike) being aware that this was the first day of NAAW, in our children’s story time, he asks the kids if they want to play a game. Of course, with kids being kids, they enthusiastically shout “Yesss!” so he proceeded to tell them that for this game, they would have to stand up, which they excitedly did.
Next he told them, “okay, I’m going to describe a couple of people to you that are in this church. They come here regularly. Then I want you to see if you can tell me who they are”. The kids nodded yes, so Mike proceeded.
“Okay, the first person is a writer and an author. This person has been published globally and this person does a lot of things to try to help make things better for other people. Do you know who this person is?”
The kids shook their heads, saying “no-o-o-o.” Honestly, even I was thinking: “Well, it could be me, or it could be someone else.” Mike continues: “Okay. The second person has worked way up north and taught Indigenous people. Even now, this person is really involved with the reconciliation process of Indigenous people. It’s a great passion for this person.” And again Mike asks the children if they know who this person is.
Again the kids shook their head “no-o-o-o.” So Mike asks: “Well, would you like to meet these people?” The kids excitedly affirm the positive and Mike then says: “Okay, well, you’ll have to follow me. Come with me, this way.”
He began walking down the aisle with the kids following him and sure enough he comes over to me, looks at the kids and says: “This is Gerianne. Gerianne is a writer, an author and she has been published around the world. She’s an advocate for people with disabilities.” I smile at the kids and say “Hi guys!” Then Mike asks the other woman, Carol, to stand up, so everyone got to find out who she is.
A few minutes later, when Mike gave his sermon, just by coincidence he happens to talk about two men who had intellectual disabilities, who also had amazing gifts.
One was a savant, who not only played classical piano pieces (without ever being taught a single note) but he also incorporated his own interpretation on top of those pieces.
The other man, first born with next to no brain function, ended up reading over 12,000 books! Not only did he read them, but he actually memorized every word, without effort. Somehow his brain rewired itself so when he read, his left eye would read the left page, his right eye would read the right page and his brain would merge everything together, so that he would remember all of it – every word, every fact, and every piece of information.
The point of Mike’s sermon and the children’s time was that you should not and cannot fairly judge people based solely on what you see, because there is a lot more to people than meets the eye (no pun intended.)
As I sat listening to Mike, I couldn’t help but look up, smile and think “Yup! You know what you’re doing, don’t you? Perfect timing, perfect sermon and service to start off National AccessAbility Awareness Week.”
After the service, when I spoke to Mike as I always do, I said to him “Perfect timing. You probably don’t realize this, but this is the first day of National AccessAbility Awareness Week and your sermon – actually the whole service was very timely and fitting – a great start to the week.”
Mike replied: “No, honestly I didn’t know that, and by the way, sorry I didn’t give you a heads up on what was about to happen in the children’s story.”
I laughed with a not surprised “That’s okay” and I asked Mike if I could post a copy of his sermon on my blog. He agreed, but as he’s been away on church business this week, I will have to post it at a later date.
None the less, right here and right now, I want to take this opportunity to say that actually in the ten years that Mike has been our minister, he has always been a great supporter of inclusion and my own efforts in this realm. Where disability issues are concerned, Mike truly believes in my advocating for improving church life for people with disabilities.
Some time ago in a time of frustration I asked Mike: “Honestly, am I making any difference at all with this stuff? I mean, really? ‘cause I don’t feel I am.”
I could hear his sincerity when he spoke: “Gerianne, I know you carry a huge weight on those shoulders of yours. I know the stress you often feel, having to butt heads and feel like no one is listening and no one cares, but trust me, you have, and you are making a major impact here.” Then he gave me specific examples, in confidence.
For this and so much more, I am grateful for Mike’s presence in my life, especially as a faith leader. We enjoy teasing and joking around with each other a lot, but honestly, among all the incredible clergy I know (and I know a lot, from all over the globe) I consider Mike to be among the best of the best.
Ohhh God, I just put that in print. Gees, his head will surely explode now, with praise like that! (Can I take it back? Please? lol.)
