WINGS A FAITHLETTER FOR, BY AND ABOUT UNITED METHODISTS WITH DISABILITIES AND THOSE WHO CARE ABOUT THEM SUMMER 2002—Vol. 13, Issue 1, No. 49 Those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles.... Isaiah 40:31 [nrsv] FROM WHERE I SIT: VULNERABILITY By Jo D'Archangelis (Editor's Note: I wasn't able to attend the Earl Miller Spiritual Life Retreat this year, so I forwarded some thoughts on the retreat topic of "vulnerability" to Rev. Tom Reinhart-Marean, the retreat leader, who shared them with the campers. I here share those thoughts, plus a few more, with the readers of "Wings.") I first saw the poem, "The View" (below), several months ago in an issue of "Alive Now" which was devoted to the theme of "vulnerability." The poem's depiction of someone lying flat on his/her back combined with the image of broad, flat, open land resonated for me as someone with a disability—and also as someone who suffers from a bit of agoraphobia. In large, open spaces, I often feel exposed and unprotected ("spread-eagled") as though something catastrophic were about to happen to me. That my agoraphobia somehow reflects the insecurity created by my disability is of course possible. All I know for sure is that I am very much aware of my own vulnerability. People with disabilities can be vulnerable in so many ways. We may be medically vulnerable, more susceptible to infection or to bone fractures, for example. We are often physically vulnerable, unable to protect ourselves from physical harm or even to move out of harm's way if we should need to. This vulnerability is one reason why women with disabilities have such a high rate of being victimized by physical and sexual abuse. We may also be emotionally vulnerable, struggling with lack of self-esteem and doubts about our physical attractiveness, sometimes leaving ourselves wide open to hurt and rejection (I speak from a woman's point of view here, but I suspect that men with disabilities have the same issues; they just may not confess their vulnerability as readily as women do!). Some of us may be vulnerable, and understandably so considering our pain and desperation, to the promises of healings and cures by the pseudo-scientific and pseudo-religious peddlers of magnets, shark cartilage, and energy centers, all available at the low, low price of $19.95, or a donation to the Church of Cosmic Healing. And many of us may be vulnerable in our dependency upon others to meet our basic needs and to get through the day; we are "at the mercy" of those who may or may not be dependable, who may or may not take advantage of us. Some people with disabilities may feel stripped of all dignity in this position, may even feel ashamed at reverting to what they see as a state of infantile dependence. The funny thing about vulnerability though is that it can be an absolutely endearing quality; it can make us more human, more accessible, more approachable, even more likable. The best actors often give their characters some vulnerability, characters which might otherwise be too powerful, virtuous, or diabolical for us to identify with. People are drawn more to vulnerable than they are to impenetrable. I think God loves us human beings for our very vulnerability, in other words, for our very human-ness. A prayer I once read speaks of God's abundant, overflowing grace seeping into the cracks of our brokenness. Without the cracks of our vulnerability, God's grace, the grace that perfects strength out of weakness, wouldn't be able to fill us and make us whole. This vulnerability, this dependence and brokenness which brings us closer to God, also enables us—once we acknowledge it—to speak to the same vulnerability, to the same brokenness, pain, and hurting in others. Only then can we be in ministry with and for each other. Those who are disabled and, I would add, those who are able-bodied are all joined together in sacred community, not because of any strength and power we might have but because of our mutual vulnerability. THE VIEW By C. Gray Norsworthy Eighth floor motel view— the vastness, the flatness of the land northeast of Denver This is openness... To lie spread-eagled like the land which stares up at the sky and God. No fetal positioning here. No roly-poly curling up in an armored, silver ball. From the moment of your birth, you are forced open flat on your back to face the sky and God. How can you look upon the face of God and live? Only, on your back. Norsworthy is the pastor of a Presbyterian church in Atlanta, Georgia. From "Alive Now" (Mar.-April 2002). RETREAT "RUBS" PEOPLE THE RIGHT WAY Every year since 1990 the California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church has sponsored a retreat for persons with orthopedic and/or sight impairments. This year, campers at the Earl Miller Spiritual Life Retreat, held on the weekend of June 7-9 at Camp Cedar Glen, were offered a special "treat"—free therapeutic massage! Rev. Tom Reinhart-Marean, visitation minister at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena, Calif., and wheelchair user, served as retreat leader. He was joined by Dr. Bonnie Berger, a doctor of Chiropractic and principal instructor at the Mesa Institute of Massage in Orange, Calif. The theme of "vulnerability" was explored in guided meditation, group interaction, worship service, individual Bible study, as well as in speaker presentations by Rev. Reinhart-Marean. He encouraged attendees to "grow in...awareness and understanding of the interconnectedness of body, mind, and spirit within a wholeness created and sustained by God." Dr. Berger explained the different types of massage including "Chiromassage," a therapeutic massage she developed some years ago. She then, in collaboration with students from the Institute, gave massages to those campers who chose to participate and who did not have certain medical conditions such as high blood pressure. Dr. Berger also answered questions in regard to the connection between stress, pain, posture, and spirituality. Norm and Helen Stockwell served as retreat registrars. Tom Simmons was retreat dean, and Merry Williams provided music. The next Earl Miller Spiritual Life Retreat is scheduled for June 6-8, 2003, at Camp Cedar Glen, near Julian, Calif. A RETREAT REFLECTION By Dr. Bonnie Berger When Pastor Tom Reinhart-Marean asked me if I could help out at the Earl Miller Spiritual Life Retreat, I heard someone somewhere above my head say "yes" before I could say, "What? Are you nuts? Do you know how thin my time is?" In that month before the retreat I worried how I was going to direct the students, what kind of massages would be given, who the people were, how I was going to handle questions, and even what the facilities would be like. In that month before the retreat I was overworked and had gotten really angry with God for letting a little girl (a friend of mine) die of cancer. The week before the retreat I was bitten hard by depression and had lost faith that God really cared. I didn't know a "workshop" on vulnerability for people with disabilities was going to change my faith. First of all, I found the campsite, in the mountains surrounding Julian, perfect for reflection, prayer, and release from worries. The cabins were tidy and inviting. I didn't know I needed that but "someone" knew. She (hey now, Pastor Tom and his wife, Pastor Holly, said I could imagine my Higher Power as a woman if it brought me closer to God!) also knew I needed wonderful helpers so she supplied me with the best of students—perhaps not Mesa Institute's most skilled but certainly some of the wisest, gentlest, and most open students I have ever had the honor to teach—Bogdan Banu, Angelica Johns, and Tom Debrayana. God also gave us wonderful participants. We, the students and I, all remarked on how kind everyone was. None of us said, "Oh, did you talk to so-and-so in the wheelchair?" We said we had met poets, rocket scientists, lovers of life, gentle souls, and strong souls. They let us strangers see through their wounds and disabilities into their deeper selves. The big "duh" moment came for me when I finally realized that Christ lives in every human body. I AM DISABLED AND... I thank you, LORD, that your delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor your pleasure in the speed of a runner; but you take pleasure in those who fear you, in those who hope in your steadfast love. I wish to be one of those. Affirmation #1 adapted from Psalms 147:10-11 (NRSV) by Ken Tittle and Mariposa Ministry. RESOURCES FOR DISABILITY MINISTRIES "Breaking The Sound Barrier in Your Church: Ministry With People Who Are Late-Deafened or Hard-of-Hearing," a booklet from the United Methodist Congress of the Deaf Committee on the Late-Deafened and Hard-of-Hearing; free except for shipping charges; contact Noemi Fuentes, Executive Secretary, Health & Welfare Ministries, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York City, NY 10115, E-mail: nfuentes@gbgm-umc.org. A resource packet on developmental disabilities from the United Methodist Task Force on Developmental Disabilities; includes print and video bibliographies, a model of inclusion developed by persons with disabilities, information on autism for religious education teachers, and camping resources; contact Pat Cork at (913) 682-8517. LED BY JOY By Beth Pattillo Like many Christians, I often find myself expecting joy to be smooth as silk, while, in reality, it is more often like the lumpy homespun of a novice weaver. Our society has romanticized joy. We think it ought to be perfect, not flawed. We move through our lives waiting for that single moment when joy appears without blemish, but that moment never comes because joy is a well-worn, battered traveler. When it arrives, we hardly recognize it. Paul recognized this human tendency to believe that joy must be flawless. He exhorted the church at Thessalonica to "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Paul believed that Jesus Christ would return at any moment, and for him there was no time to be wasted in waiting for perfection. Joy was to be found in the midst of persecutions, imprisonments, shipwrecks, church controversies, and threats of death. Joy was to be found in the midst of, and in spite of, human limitations.... If we want to claim the joy of God's promises, we have to give up our assumptions. We have to abandon our presuppositions. We must allow joy to do the leading, rather than vice versa. When we, as Paul says, are always in the act of rejoicing, we can claim the promises of joy. When we pray without ceasing, rather than waiting for that one golden moment, we can claim the promises of joy. When we learn to give thanks in all circumstances, we can claim the promises of joy. Then the flaws, imperfections, and hard realities that accompany our joy fall away. "Rejoice always," Paul urged, and he did not do so casually. Paul knew from his own experience that joy could be found in the roughest seas. Even if we're hanging over the rail, joy is present because Jesus Christ is present. It may not be pretty. It may not be perfect. But in all circumstances, joy permeates the life of faith because of the promise of Christ's presence. Thanks be to God! Excerpted from "Alive Now" [Nov./Dec. 1999]. DISABILITIES MOTIVATE HIM TO HELP OTHERS By Heather Peck Stahl Three brain tumors. A ruptured appendix. A coma. Relearning how to walk, talk and feed oneself. These conditions would prevent most people from getting out of bed; yet they motivate one United Methodist to help others. Bob Fleming, 48, has remained steadfast in his faith and crusades for disabled people's rights, having suffered from each of these conditions since 1970, when he was serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. Recently he was treated for his third brain tumor. As a result, he was forced to use a wheelchair and give up his volunteer work with the youth group at Alton (Ill.) Main Street Church. The setback did not dampen his spirits. "God has pulled me through all of the tough times," Fleming said. "And I know I can always rely on God's support. My prayers will be answered in many ways ... And no matter how broken I feel, I know that there is someone else who is worse off." For almost two decades, Fleming has lobbied successfully to get ramps, signs, sidewalk curbing cuts and other handicap-accessible devices installed at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, Ill., and Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. He was studying for a graduate degree in psychology at the university when his third tumor was discovered. Fleming said, at one point "I used crutches to climb three flights of stairs to show (those at Lewis and Clark Community College) how much we need an elevator." Also, in honor of his late uncle, he personally paid more than $400 for a much-needed curbing cut on College Avenue on the campus of Southern Illinois University. Since the 1980s, the lifelong United Methodist has received numerous statewide honors for his ongoing efforts to improve the lives of the disabled, including the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois Award in 1994 and 1996. "I'll keep working to help people with disabilities," he said. "There is a lot of discrimination that needs to end." Fleming has served on the American Disabilities Committee at Southern Illinois University and was appointed by the governor to the Illinois Council on Independent Living and the Human Relations Commission for Impact, a center that teaches independent living skills to those with disabilities. Re-printed from "Interpreter: Program Ideas For Methodists" [October 1998]; Heather Peck Stahl is associate editor for "Interpreter." "FOR MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLES" (Isaiah 56:7 NRSV) As God's creations, we are fashioned uniquely, Each endowed with individuality of body, mind and spirit To worship freely the One who has given us life. Each of us has abilities; each seeks fulfillment and wholeness. Each of us has disabilities; each knows isolation and incompleteness. Seeking shelter from the vulnerability we all share, Claiming our promised place in God's Household of Faith, We are transformed by invitation, affirmation and love. In grateful response, we... Worship and serve God, the source of hope and joy; Celebrate and serve one another, rejoicing in our diversity; Transform and serve the world, until we become a Community which reflects God's Oneness and Peace. Let the House of God be open to all who would enter and worship. From "That All May Worship: An Interfaith Welcome to People With Disabilities," Ann Rose Davie and Ginny Thornburgh, (c) 1992 by the National Organization on Disability [Washington D.C.]. A VISIT TO ANNUAL CONFERENCE The newly-formed Council On Disability Ministries was going to submit its first report to the California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church on June 22, and Juda Carter, one of the disability ministries coordinators, advised those of us planning to be up on the stage to come early—the elevator was awfully slow. Elevator, huh? Now that would be a change! Some of us remembered previous Annual Conferences held at the University of Redlands and the huge campus chapel where presentations were made and plenary sessions conducted. It was not exactly hospitable to people in wheelchairs. We had to enter through a steeply inclined delivery entrance and park ourselves along the side in front of doors and a staircase. There was no disability access to the stage. This year those of us with mobility impairments entered the chapel by means of a long, railed ramp; found wheelchair seating behind the regular seats; and attained to the heights of the stage via a wheelchair lift. The lift was interminably slow, but it got us where we wanted to be. A wheeled threesome (Lupita Redondo, Rev. Tom Reinhart-Marean, and I) sat behind Tom Simmons, the council chair, as he reported to the assembled delegates how the council came into being. He was followed by Juda who introduced the video "Accessibility Is More Than A Ramp." Put together by Phil Peace, a retired minister, the video featured several United Methodists with various types of disabilities in the conference. Rev. Jerry Carter, the other disability ministries coordinator, concluded the report with the "power made perfect in weakness" scripture from Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. Afterwards, a few of us went outside to the booth co-sponsored by the council and Mariposa Ministry. We sat fanning ourselves in the Redlands heat (one thing that hadn't changed over the years) and watched as people from local churches came by to pick up packets of information on disability ministry. We learned that the resolution the council had submitted in support of the embattled Americans With Disabilities Act had been approved the day before. Lupita then mentioned the frustrating lack of accessibility she had encountered in the dormitories and bathrooms. Yes, we had made some progress after many years of struggle, but we still had a long way to go. Like the wheelchair lift, progress toward full accessibility can seem interminably slow. Yet we believed that not only were we as United Methodists getting to where we wanted to be in the church, more importantly, we were getting to where we should be in the church. J. D. To schedule a special presentation on disability ministry and to view the video, "Accessibility Is More Than A Ramp," at your church, contact Rev. Jerry and Juda Carter, coordinators of disability ministries in the California-Pacific Conference, at 949-855-8297, or e-mail judaathome@aol.com (Juda Carter) or Reverendjdc@aol.com (Jerry Carter). DID YOU KNOW IT SAYS RIGHT HERE IN THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE...?!? Inclusiveness means openness, acceptance, and support that enables all persons to participate in the life of the Church, the community, and the world. The mark of an inclusive society is one in which all persons are open, welcoming, fully accepting, and supporting of all other persons, enabling them to participate fully in the life of the Church, the community, and the world. A further mark of Inclusiveness is the setting of church activities in facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. "The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church" (2000), Paragraph 138: Called to Inclusiveness. HONOR ROLL OF APPRECIATION We thank the following people or organizations whose gifts of time and/or money have made possible the publication and mailing of "Wings": Margery Chapman Linda Ahnell Jill Halley Lucille Fleming Ruth Sciumbato Mary Klein Virginia & Allen Clark Nellie Hong Denise Ferrin Rose Heller Dulcie Henwood Rev. Ed Hoffman Edith Cornell Norm & Helen Stockwell Ridgely & Janiece Park Paul & Cay McCracken WINGS: A non-official, non-profit quarterly newsletter published for, by and about United Methodist adults with disabling conditions FOUNDER/EDITOR COMPUTER LAYOUT/GRAPHIC DESIGN: Jo D'Archangelis CORRESPONDENCE: Send all correspondence—including original writings, items from other sources, and changes of address—to Jo D'Archangelis, Editor, at MAILING ADDRESS: 592 West Ammunition Road, Apt. 1 Fallbrook, CA 92028 TELEPHONE/FAX: [760] 723-2668 (please call before faxing) E-MAIL: JODARLIS@aol.com E-WINGS: An e-mail version of "Wings" posted quarterly in unformatted text without graphics is available by contacting Jo D'Archangelis at JODARLIS@aol.com. WINGS WEBSITE: Selected articles from "Wings" issues 1995-98 may be found at www.satcom.net/mariposa/find_wings.html. DONATIONS: Most of the funding for "Wings'" publication and mailing comes from reader donations, so there are no subscription fees. If you think "Wings" is worth it, please make a check or money order payable to the "Fallbrook United Methodist Church" (or "FUMC") and mark it "Wings Newsletter." Mail it to the church address below. Basic Angel $6-$14 Major Angel $15-$24 Super Angel $25-$49 Mega Angel $50-$99 Awesome Angel $100 or more CHURCH ADDRESS: Fallbrook United Methodist Church 1844 Winterhaven Road Fallbrook, CA 92028 CHURCH TELEPHONE: [760] 728-1472 CHURCH FAX: [760] 728-7433 CHURCH E-MAIL: FUMC1887@tfb.com