<\/p>\n
This weekly feature is intended to provide a picture of life
\nwith a disability in all its possibilities and limitations, gifts and
\nstruggles. Every week, I will print a 500-1000 word reflection written either
\nby an individual with a disability, or a friend or family member who has been
\nin a relationship with a person with a disability. And while I intend for this
\nspace to be honest in its portrayal of some of the hardships that can come with
\nphysical and\/or cognitive disabilities, I also hope it will provide a sense of
\nthe fullness of life that individuals with disabilities experience. <\/p>\n
The title of this feature comes from the Greek word telos<\/i>, which can be translated as
\n“perfect” but which also can be defined as, “the end for which it was created.”
\nPeople with disabilities are just as human as anyone else–flawed and gifted,
\nbeloved and broken. They are “perfectly” human, which is to say, created with a
\npurpose. I would like this space to convey the things that connect us as human
\nbeings, things that go beyond our perceptions of able\/disabled. Similarly, I
\nwould like to suggest ways in which individuals with disabilities can, at least
\nsometimes, help individuals without disabilities to understand their own
\nhumanity.<\/p>\n
In preparing your reflection, I suggest you consider one or
\ntwo specific stories to illustrate your point. Imagine that you are talking to
\nsomeone who has never experienced (whether personally or through relationship) life
\nwith a disability, and thus views it only in terms of hardship and burden. For
\ninstance, you might describe a time in your life when having a disability (or
\nknowing someone with a disability) has been a particular challenge, or a
\nparticular blessing. Or, describe a moment of transformation or expansion in
\nyour life that resulted from your experience with disability. For most people,
\nabstract ideas or general insights are only helpful as they are illustrated by
\nconcrete examples. So try to be as specific as possible. <\/p>\n
Thank you!<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is a rather unconventional post for me, and it’s intended for people who have read this blog before. Now that the blog has been live at beliefnet for over a month, I wanted to get your feedback on a few things. I’d also like to invite you to suggest topics or questions you’d like…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2,6,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disability","category-faith","category-family","category-perfectly-human"],"yoast_head":"\n
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Submissions?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/","name":"Thin Places","description":"Amy Julia Becker on Faith, Family, and Disability","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/#\/schema\/person\/4dde10eee38770361dc9b46a9413776b","name":"amyjuliabecker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/222\/2222023dcae76abe6e896a3cf80e9836x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/222\/2222023dcae76abe6e896a3cf80e9836x96.jpg","caption":"amyjuliabecker"},"description":"Amy Julia Becker writes about theology, disability, family, and culture. 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Her essays have appeared in First Things, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Christian Century, ChristianityToday.com, and Bloom, among other online venues.","sameAs":["http:\/\/amyjuliabecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/author\/amyjuliabecker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}