Prudence -- Diane Mettam

Perhaps it’s because I’m sick yet again.  Perhaps it was the fact my husband’s medicine is causing more heart episodes, not less.  Maybe it was because I had to make room in  the office file cabinet for this year’s receipts.  But I started thinking about final arrangements.  I made a list of insurance policies and what benefits are payable, and I’m making a list of my and my husband’s retirement funds and how to access them, and we’re preparing advance directives for medical care. 

While this may sound ghoulish, I think these are things we all need to think about, and for which we must prepare.  The Bible speaks often of prudence, of being thoughtful and careful, of seeking wise choices.  “The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.” Proverbs 14:8.

It turned out my husband was having the same thoughts, and it was the first time we have ever sat down and talked about “those things” seriously.  But it felt good to clear the air, to take stock of where we are, and to know where we might be when it comes time to retire. 

As people with disabilities, I think it’s particularly important.  I have no idea when or how Social Security kicks me off of SSDI and into retirement.  I’ll need to talk to someone to find out, and see what changes that entails.  I can’t find anything on their site, and it won’t give me a projected retirement benefit because I’m already receiving disability benefits. 

We have no long term care insurance (nursing home or in-home care) because I’m uninsurable.  And now that my husband has heart issues, we both might be in that group.  But my folks wound up in an assisted living facility.  Our local senior resource agency  is working on a “village” to keep seniors in their homes, and I hope it will be in place by the time we need it, but will we be able to pay for care to stay in our home? 

These are tough, unpleasant questions, but they’re things with which we need to grapple.  Most of us aren’t fortunate to have family close by.  My son lives 12 hours away, and his career as a wildland firefighter means he’s gone for half the year.  My daughter and son-in-law live 1300 miles away and have taken on the responsibility of raising his young niece and nephew as well as their own two sons.  It’s up to us to find and maintain a support system.  It’s never to soon to start. 

Prayer Requests:

•     The fourth biannual “That All May Worship Conference” will take place on March 20th in Virginia Beach. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors*, 10 FREE registrations are available for either persons with disabilities, or their caregivers, or anyone working (employed or volunteer) in their faith community’s disability program/ministry.  Please contact Karen Jackson at the Faith Inclusion Network, faithinclusionnetwork@gmail.com, if you would like to attend.  More information is available here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/that-all-may-worship-2015-embracing-inclusion-tickets-13166648801

•     UMAMD (United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities) will be meeting at Lovers Lane UMC in Dallas July 31st and August 31st.  Special worship service will be celebrated by Eric Pridmore and Evy MacDonald on Sunday, August 2nd.  A call for papers and presentations is issued.  Requested are theological reflections on life as ministers with disabilities.  Presentations can include music, pottery, painting, dance, poetry, vestments, paraments, and other works of art.  We are also interested in chapters for a second volume of Speaking Out.  For more information and downloadable forms to register for the meeting, please go to:  http://www.umdisabledministers.org/meeting/2015.html

•     For clergy members with hidden disabilities who are pushed into retirement when appointments don’t offer needed and requested accommodations, and that hearts be opened to doing a better job of making accommodations so that people called to the ministry can serve out their career doing what they were called to do.

•      That hearts will be opened and touched so that changes will begin in local churches.

Dear Lord God, We thank you that so many doors are opening for this ministry.  Please open hearts and minds as well so that more and more of your children will feel welcome in your churches.  Thank you for all the people and organizations, from many faiths and traditions, who are working for this cause.  We ask that You continue to inspire and to strengthen them.  Keep us ever mindful of the blessings with which you bestow us, and help us to use them prudently.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen

“That All May Worship Sponsors”

Lutheran Family Services of Virginia, Community Direct Services, Hoy Construction Inc., St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children, Lynn Haven United Methodist Church, Elim Christian Services, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Cornerstone Sunday School of the Virginia Beach United Methodist Church, Jesus Cares Ministries, Jewish Family Services, Koehler Books Publishing, Lutheran Services in America Disability Network, Lynnhaven United Methodist Women, Rosemarie Scotti Hughes, Ph.D., Support Services of Virginia, The Chosen Ministry, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach Christian Church, Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church,

All together -- Tim Vermande

Indiana observes Disability Awareness Month during March. The Disability Concerns Team of the Indiana Conference has designated March 22 as Disability Awareness Sunday for its churches. The following sermon starter is part of the materials available at the conference website (www.inumc.org).

John 12:20-33

In the lectionary passage for Lent 5, we are reminded that the season is a time for renewal of our faith. We often do this through spiritual disciplines that look toward simplifying or re-focusing on the primary elements of our faith and practice. As we approach Indiana’s statewide Disability Month in March and conference-wide Disability Sunday in the season of Lent, we are near the climactic point of the gospel, and the lectionary turns to the impending death of Jesus.

In this chapter, Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem. In the preceding chapter, the Sanhedrin (ruling religious council) has decided to seek the death of Jesus. In response, Jesus withdraws with his disciples to a remote village. As Passover approached, Jesus went to Bethany, where he had raised Lazarus from the dead, and the place where the opposition coalesced. John writes what we would today call an evangelistic tract, highlighting an ongoing conflict belief and unbelief. In the lectionary, the sequence points to the passion narrative of Lent 6.

This death is increasingly portrayed as a battle between the powers of the world and the power of God. On our side of the resurrection, we know the story and can take comfort that God’s power was victorious. But on the side of those who lived through it, this was a time of intense conflict and doubt. Even Peter denied that he was one of those Galileans who knew Jesus. People were pitted against each other, as were beliefs and power systems.

And yet Jesus looks to what is to come, in a statement that carries great meaning for people with disabilities, who have often been excluded from the church. In John 12.32, Jesus states that “when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” The Disability Ministries team believes that the hallmark of a church is inclusion. This is not merely the evangelization of an unreached target group, but a belief that Jesus does indeed bring everyone to him. We are not engaged in ministry “to” but ministry “with” that strengthens the body of Christ by bringing many gifts, abilities, and graces into the mix that is the church. Just as God created us in variety, we come together in variety. We are no longer abled, disabled: as Paul reminds us in Galatians 3.28, in Christ the old distinctions are gone, and the church is complete and enriched by the various gifts that come from people of all physical, mental, and developmental abilities.

What better time to proclaim this inclusion of all abilities than the day of preparation for the passion?

Moving Mountains (and trucks) -- Diane Mettam

I did it.  I moved a truck!  No, I didn’t wish it away, or pick it up, or push it.  I used my voice, and my logic, the law, and my sense of justice and fair play.

Recently I went to my credit union to conduct some business and there was a large truck parked perpendicular to the only handicapped parking space and cross-hatch loading area.  There was ample space in front of the other businesses in the mini strip mall, and across the parking lot, but the truck chose to park there because someone in it was installing a new ATM. 

I had to park across the parking lot, which is always dangerous, and was more so in this case because the truck was also blocking part of the access into the parking lot.  I try never to park away from the building which I am entering because I am not visible to drivers when I am in my chair, and Eureka has had at least two fatal accidents involving wheelchair users in the past year. 

I spoke to the driver’s assistant, who apologized for taking the space, but said he couldn’t do anything.  The driver, who was in charge, said he “had to park there” because the machine was heavy.  I asked to see his placard or license plate giving him permission to park in a blue space, and then I started taking pictures.  He continued stating that he had the right to take that space, and I continued taking photos. 

When I went into the credit union, I asked the teller if he had called the police department to report the illegal parking.  He had not.  At that point the branch manager came out, and I asked her the same question.  She had not called, either.  I explained the law to her, and why it was important to me.  Besides being a matter of law, it’s a matter of safety.  She went out and told the driver he would have to move the truck to free up the parking space.  Victory!

I am not one to confront people, at least not on my own behalf.  I am ready in a heartbeat to intercede on behalf of someone else, but for some reason I am silent when it comes to me.  So I thought this was a double victory.  I think those of us who need those blue parking spaces have seen similar abuses, and perhaps we have shrugged our shoulders and said, “Oh, well.”  Perhaps it’s time we all gird our loins and protest.  In my case, the business owner’s concern for a customer’s safety was the deciding factor.

“Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.”  Proverbs 25:15

Dear Lord, Give us the courage to speak out for what is right, and the wisdom to use the right words.  Help us to know when to stand our ground, and when to compromise.  Thank you for the examples we find in Your living words, our holy scriptures.  Amen.