Freedom Week Three

July 17, 2022 Michelle Higgins

LIBERATION LECTIONARY - DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH

Born for Inclusion

“The Church was born for inclusion” - Rev. Lamar Hardwick

Donna Duke, Processing

Daily Scripture Readings

Sunday 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.”

Monday 2 Corinthians 1.5-7 “For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.”

Tuesday 2 Corinthians 1.8-11 “We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many may give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”

Wednesday 2 Corinthians 1.12-14 “Indeed, this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience: we have behaved in the world with holiness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God—and all the more toward you. For we write you nothing other than what you can read and also understand; I hope you will understand until the end— as you have already understood us in part—that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast.”

Thursday 2 Corinthians 1.21-22 “But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, who has put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.”

Friday 2 Corinthians 1.23-24 “But I call on God as witness against me: it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth. I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather, we are workers with you for your joy because you stand firm in faith.”

Saturday 2 Corinthians 2.1-4 “So I made up my mind not to make another visit that causes you grief. For if I cause you grief, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have grieved? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came, I might not suffer grief from those who should have made me rejoice, for I am confident about all of you, that my joy would be the joy of all of you. For I wrote you out of much distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you grief but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.”

Reflection: Born for Inclusion

July is Disability Pride Month. Disability Pride Month commemorates the passing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in July 1990. Disability Pride Month is not yet officially nationally recognized but it is being celebrated and honored more widely each year, and it is recognized by some city governments through publicly promoted and city-sponsored celebrations and/or formal recognition. We amplify Disability Pride because we are committed to disability justice, as Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha writes: “Disability justice means we are not left behind; we are beloved, kindred, needed… it is understanding that disabled people have a full-time job managing their disabilities and the medical-industrial complex and the world—so regular expectations about work, energy, and life can go right out the window.” Let us honor and celebrate the people of God.

Reading Recommendation: Rev. Lamar Hardwick’s Disability and the Church

Viewing recommendation; Interview with Rev. Lamar Hardwick

“The church must take the lead in the discussion on diversity and ultimately disability. It is not only found in the teachings of Jesus, it is the description of the very DNA that gave birth to the church.” Rev. Lamar Hardwick

Read the quote above, watch the recommended video if you can. Discuss the church’s role in disability justice. How can churches bring solutions to the places where problems persist? Name ways that we can repair the harm that we have been complicit in, or harm that we have caused directly. Discuss the points of pride that disabled people can participate in. Where in scripture can we find Jesus teaching about disability? How does Jesus’s life and ministry show us the way to welcome people with disability?

Remembrance - Meditation

July 16th is the birthday of Ida B. Wells, she taught us how to use the skills we have to resist and dismantle sexism, racism, and violence. This prominent journalist, activist, and researcher worked in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries to shed light on the conditions of African Americans throughout the South.

July 16th is the birthday of Assata Shakur, she teaches us what it means to embody a determined spirit who will stop at nothing to protect the movement. An activist and writer who worked with the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, Assata was falsely accused and convicted of murdering a New Jersey state trooper and sentenced to life plus thity years. In 1979, Shakur escaped from prison. She traveled to Cuba in 1984 where she was granted political asylum and reunited with her daughter whom she delivered while imprisoned.

July 17 is the birthday of Philando Castille, we speak his name, we fight for him. “Mr. Phil the Lunch Man” as he was called by his students, was revered and beloved by 400 students he served every day at school. He would often use his own money to pay for student’s lunch when they were could not afford a meal at school. He was born in St. Louis and lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. Philando was 32 years old when a police officer shot him 5 times at point blank range during a racially motivated traffic stop.

For our meditation time this week - read the quote, meditate on it, in silence or discussion, pray for wisdom, power, and action from the God who builds safe places for all bodies.