Thursday, April 10, 2014

A Prayer of the Disabled

Our father in heaven, let thou be known as the Almighty. Let thy rule be extended to this world as well. Let thy will be done in this world as it is done in heaven. Deliver us from the rule of evil.

We are often tempted to blindly trust our eyes, and believe that only what we see with our eyes is what truly exists. We are often tempted to believe that only those who appear disabled to our eyes are disabled. As a result, we make a class of disabled people as distinguished from the rest of the people who are treated as if they are fully able. As a result, the so-called able people look down upon the so-called disabled ones as parasites, and their approach varies from sympathy to hatred. The so-called disabled people look down upon themselves with self-contempt.

Our father, help us to see with our inner eyes so that we may realize the truth that thou alone are almighty, and that all people in the world are disabled in one way or other. Help us to realize that whatever abilities we have are not our own abilities, but thy gifts.  

Once we all develop the ability to see with our inner eyes, no one will feel self-contempt for being disabled, and no one will look down on others for being disabled. We will learn to identify our own disabilities so that we can seek the help of others who can help us. We will also learn to identify our abilities so that we can help others who need our help. We will live together as the organs of a body helping and supporting each other. We will learn to develop a symbiotic relationship rather than a parasitic relationship.

Father, forgive us our evil deeds just as we forgive each other. We don't look down upon others, nor do we look down upon ourselves. We surrender ourselves to thy rule rather than the rule of evil, so that we live with interdependence. We long for thy rule in this world from the depth of our hearts. May thy kingdom spread through us! Let us be the yeast that can leaven the entire dough!
For thine is the kingdom, power and the glory for ever.

 

1 comment:

Elizabeth said...

How can I express my
response to the prayer! Every word is God's precious gift for us and I feel sad that we are so careless and show no reverence to these precious gifts. So I do not want to use any word like great or super to describe it. It is a prayer springing from the depth of loving understanding.
As a disabled person I look upon my disability with calm resignation on the one hand and humble courage on the other, I accept that I can't do certain things but I do my best to
do what I can. I shall share with you one verse in the Bible which has inspired me. It is from Psalm 84. The Malayalam translation reads as 'kanneer thazhvarayil koodi kadakkumbol avar athine
jalassayamakkitheerkkum." Yes I do believe that we can't help shedding tears but every tear can be turned into a pearl, at least a pearl of a smile or a kind word or a loving touch for a fellow being.