I have a friend from overseas. She’s amazed and humbled by the way Australia treats people with mental and physical disabilities. We value them. We seek to integrate them into our society.
PICTURE: AbsolutVision/Unsplash
In her home country having a child with a disability is seen as a curse from the gods. Many such children are left to die, or sent away to live in institutions. They aren’t educated or integrated – indeed it is rare to see such people in public. This still happens all over the world.
We have forgotten in the West that our valuing of such people comes from Jesus. In the Gospels, Jesus treated the blind, the lame, those with mental illness, as people. He sought their wholeness and acceptance in society.
This drove the West’s compassion for people with disabilities and our medical efforts to bring wholeness. Don’t forget where this compassion comes from. Everyone is a child of God.
Paul Clark’s musings can be heard on radio across Australia and at atthetop.org.au.