Caring

 The clients that I encounter daily in my workplace are adults who are severely intellectually and physically impaired. They are highly dependent upon others to care for their basic needs of everyday living. 

We live in a world where diversity is often acknowledged and celebrated as the good thing that it is, yet paradoxically the need to care for the most vulnerable - the aged, the impaired, the unborn- can be called into question.

At worst, some would say that people with profound disabilities should not be assisted to live. 

What is the worth of such a significantly disabled person?

I would argue- tremendous worth.

Each person on this earth is created by God, in His image, and for His glory.

Far from being in a vegetative state, even people with profound disabilities each display their own human personality- in looks, actions and ways of relating to the world. 

I was reminded of this recently when I was with a very impaired young man, waiting for an appointment. He was dozing in his chair and while we were waiting I decided to read to him from the Bible app. that I have installed on my phone. I read the first chapter of Genesis. The effect on him was immediate. His eyes opened wide, and he smiled. He cannot speak but I believe that he responded to the words. He attends church, so perhaps the language of the Bible is familiar to him. God's word touches every heart that is soft and responsive to Him. The smile of a disabled man can touch other hearts and I'm sure it touches God's heart. 

When we care for the most vulnerable people in our society, the society as a whole benefits from this attitude of care. We were all once helpless infants in the womb. Many of us will be stricken with life-limiting illnesses, or suffer mental illnesses such as depression, and many will live to become frail late in life. It is one of the highest ideals of a society to care for each other. I truly believe we touch God's heart and change the course of nations when we do so. 

When we cease to do so, society as a whole disintegrates into a self-serving survival of the fittest. We march again down the road to Auschwitz, where certain people are deemed to be unworthy of life- to satisfy eugenics theory, to satisfy economic concerns, to satisfy political ambitions.