Room for all

It has been heartening to see the media coverage, at least in this part of the world, given to the Paralympics. People with disability are too often pushed to the edges. But before we get too excited let’s remember that the coverage is minimal compared to the coverage of the able-bodied Olympics and that we are looking at only a small number of talented people.

Nevertheless Jesus would have approved. In Matthew 18, he gives value to some of the less significant members of society. He even says that children are models for the way in which we enter into the kingdom of God, and find relationship with him.

Any society which ignores or, worse, oppresses its most vulnerable members, be they children, the elderly or those with special needs, has failed to understand God’s desire for justice. The God of Psalm 149 is a God who crowns the humble. Time and time again in the Bible we find people commanded to care for the vulnerable. Leaving aside the coverage of the Paralympics, how does our society treat the vulnerable?

How does our church? Is there adequate provision for children? Do the elderly feel welcome and comfortable? Is there sufficient provision for the hearing-impaired or those with poor sight? Is there adequate wheelchair access?

John Grayston