The Rose

By Wendy Duckworth Vance 

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).  As I noted in my last article, we do not always have to understand what God is doing to know that God is moving. This verse has been something I have constantly reminded myself of in recent months and even more so in the last two weeks. As I watch people with disabilities, myself included, being cast into outer darkness by society and scapegoated for tragedy, I have to admit that I genuinely don't understand. Yet, as I pointed out in the last article,  despite not understanding, my role is to just say hallelujah anyway. Even as the world around us rejects various marginalized groups, including people with disabilities,  I know that our value is not in their opinion but in that of God. While our fellow man may forget that we are people who bleed the same, dream the same, and love the same, God does not forget. Just as they are, we, too, are His creations; we, too, are loved. And just as Christ went to the cross for people with able bodies, with acceptable skin color, acceptable gender, or whatever other attribute is considered to be a part of the "perfect race of people",  he went to the cross for us. In his love, I trust him to provide.

His provision does not necessarily mean that none of us will suffer loss. I would say unequivocally that we must expect great loss in the coming years - jobs, homes, friends, family, supports, and services that allow basic life – food, clothing, shelter, and medical care.  And yes, I do believe that some of us will lose our very lives.  All swept away under the premise that we, as people with disabilities, are inferior, "life unworthy of life." This isn't the first time in our history that we have been branded as vermin to be erased from society to "prevent them from poisoning the blood." During the holocaust, we were used for medical experimentation and eliminated because somehow we were less than. But it did not begin there. It began with people deciding who had a right to be called human beings and deciding who had a right to participate in society.  First, they made laws that took away people's right to work, be educated, and live in the general population. Then they made laws to mark those who were other than yellow stars and triangles in various colors, marking all those unworthy to exist and gathering together all the unwanted masses into places of an eternal waking nightmare.  Then, lastly came elimination, deciding that those marginalized populations had no right to live at all. I have read multiple accounts of individuals who lost their faith amid that nightmare. They lost hope, just as their tormentors wanted.  This loss of hope caused many to lose the will to live. We must not lose hope in this time of the rising nightmare in our own country. We must not lose faith; even in the face of reprehensible evil, we must stand strong and know that God is still God and still loves us.  

Watching the events of the last couple of weeks unfold has been soul-crushing.  We have watched as companies have decided that they no longer want to hire people with disabilities and other marginalized populations; I have read stories of people with disabilities losing their jobs in the wake of government officials giving them the green light to do so and saying outright that we are inferior and unintelligent.  Even going so far as to scapegoat people with disabilities as being responsible for the horrific airplane/helicopter collision in DC leading to the death of 67 American citizens.  The parallels to past horrors grow daily, and the reality sets in that this dark past is likely our future. But in the midst of this darkness and deep sadness, God remains; God loves and provides solace for our broken and terrified hearts. 

At this week's worship service, God spoke to my heart.  He reminded me that we, His followers, are to love the outcasts - the "least of these" and be light to a world in darkness.  Whatever happens, in the time that remains to us, we need to be showing love and compassion to those who are being thrown away as trash so that they can know that they are not alone, that someone loves them, but that, more importantly, that they are loved by the Creator of the universe.  This was a balm to my heart because while I may be powerless to stop what is coming, what I can do is choose love and give hope.  Unless this is the time of Earth's ultimate end, some of us will emerge on the other side, not unscathed but living. Those who survive will be able to bear witness that fascism, nationalism, bigotry, and irrational and baseless hatred never produce good fruit.  These are fruits of darkness that bring only suffering and destruction.  Perhaps this time, people will listen.  Perhaps this time, "never again" will actually mean never again.  Perhaps in our loss, people will finally understand that regardless of the features or attributes that make us different on the outside, on the inside, the same heart beats, crying out to be loved and to belong in every facet of life.  

The next day, as if to punctuate this revelation, God provided a tangible example of perseverance and embracing the will to survive. On that day, while fertilizing my plants, I was gifted with the most beautiful sight - a tiny little rosebud.  You see, we had a snow and ice storm in North Florida just a couple of weeks ago. We rarely get snow and ice in North Florida. I feared that my roses and my hydrangeas had died, but I still intended to try anyway if there was even the smallest chance that life persisted. As I fertilized my roses, I noticed this tiny rosebud emerging. So even in the cold, even in the darkness, life continued. That little rose reminds me that if God cares to preserve the life of a single, insignificant rose bush, which, as he said, is here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will he preserve and provide for the people for whom he gave his life? Whatever depth of darkness, whatever cold cruelty we must face, though we are thrown into the winepress of the wrath of man, God's love will prevail.  For those have given their lives to Him, life will endure whether in the flesh or in His presence, for He has promised that those who believed in Yeshua will not perish but have life everlasting (see John 3:16). So today, I encouraging you to give your life to Christ, and if you have already given your life to Christ to pursue that relationship, growing closer to him for He is our salvation, embody, and soul.