The Able-Bodied Are Just Temporarily Nondisabled

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. - John 9:41

Jesus says it’s those of us who think we’re able-bodied that are in the most danger. For those of us who think of ourselves as able-bodied, perhaps there’s a new perspective that we need. Perhaps we need to look to the disabled community to be taught.

Below is a longer set of comments from a disability theologian reminding us how much the able-bodied have to learn. Take some time to process these thoughts and the emotions they stir.

Disability is a gift, a teacher, and a blessing in Scripture and in life…

Are you “able-bodied”? Or are you just temporarily nondisabled? Everyone’s physical ability is a temporary situation, and that frightens us.

If you live long enough, your body will likely experience disability in one way or another. Are you any less worthy of dignity and respect in those moments when your body-mind functions differently than it once did? Do you bear less of God’s image? The truth is that everyone’s ability is a temporary condition. The more you learn to live in the company of disability, the more you can embrace it when it finally comes for you. That’s not a threat, but a promise.

Perhaps that’s the real fear loitering beneath the discomfort with disabled people: the realization that you, too, will likely join us one day. We are the mirror you don’t want to see. We embody the future that you are afraid to imagine. Maybe you should learn from us instead of casting us aside.

We, the disabled, bear prophetic witness about what is true about the fragile human condition. If only the church would listen to us.

- Amy Kenny, My Body Is Not a Prayer Request