I have been reflecting more and more about my sense that I know \u201cwhy\u201d Penny has Down syndrome. I\u2019ve concluded that I was wrong in much of what I previously thought. In general, we\u2019ve heard two \u201creasons\u201d that Penny has this extra chromosome. One is because we, as her parents, need a child who is not a high-achieving, intellectual, varsity athlete, etc. In other words, we need her as a rebuke to our type-A personalities. The other is that we, as her parents, are such special people that we have been given a special responsibility and a special child. In other words, we have been given her as a reward. Rebuke or reward. As a punishment, as a gift. Either way, looking at Penny through this lens reduces her to a lesson we need to learn, and it makes her existence all about us. <\/p>\n
Recently, I was reminded of the story in John\u2019s gospel where Jesus\u2019 disciples ask him about a blind man. They say, \u201cWho sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?\u201d I don\u2019t think anyone is asking exactly that question, but perhaps we could rephrase it as, \u201cWho needed a rebuke (or reward), Peter or Amy Julia (or both), that Penny was born with Down syndrome?\u201d Jesus\u2019 answer is instructive. He says, \u201cNeither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened that the glory of God might be revealed.\u201d <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been rephrasing that answer too: \u201cNeither Peter nor Amy Julia was so good, or so bad, that they received Penny as a rebuke or reward, but this happened that the glory of God might be revealed.\u201d That answer raises its own problems and questions, but at the end of the day I think it is the better one. It recognizes Penny as a person with a purpose instead of a lesson for us to learn. And it reminds me that Penny\u2019s extra chromosome is not a way of casting judgment on us, as if we were not fit to raise a typical child. Nor is it a way of casting judgment on others, as if we were part of a small group capable of raising a child with Down syndrome. Penny is Penny, and as we\u2019ve said before, we want to receive her as the gift of life that she is, recognizing that\u2014just like the rest of us\u2014she has places of great need, and places of great strength.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have been reflecting more and more about my sense that I know \u201cwhy\u201d Penny has Down syndrome. I\u2019ve concluded that I was wrong in much of what I previously thought. In general, we\u2019ve heard two \u201creasons\u201d that Penny has this extra chromosome. One is because we, as her parents, need a child who is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-down-syndrome"],"yoast_head":"\n