Disabling Lent: An Anti-Ableist LenteN Calendar

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  • Friday • April 8, 2022

    "Imagine the body of God" by Rebekah Anderson


    READ or Watch



  • SAturDAY • APRIL 9, 2022

    Spend some time with one or more photos in our


    Disabled Joy Gallery



  • Palm SUnday • APRIL 10, 2022

    Amy Litzinger brings us the reflection for Palm Sunday. She invites us to honest reflection and rage as we usher in Holy Week.


    I’m saddened that we still haven’t learned many things you were trying to teach thousands of years ago. I think the reason why it’s so hard to sing Hosanna right now, especially right now, is because I want to be done already. I want to live in this more perfect world that you promised us. It’s not fair. Singing Hosanna because it’s already done, because I know you’ve already planned it, and you have it executed. I’m only human, I can’t see the end. It’s frustrating knowing it’s not supposed to be this way. People aren’t supposed to go without care, we aren’t supposed to die alone or have to prove our worthiness to be treated as humans. People with disabilities aren’t supposed to be seen as strains on resources, or permanently fight for crisis care. And yet we are.


    Listen or Read

  • holy moNDAY • APRIL 11, 2022

    Shelby Lewis brings us the reflection for Holy Monday from her experience as an autistic person.


    Somatic empathy is a form of empathy that autistic individuals often experience at above-average levels. Taken from the Greek root soma, translated as “the body,” somatic empathy is a physical reaction to the emotions and experiences of another...

    Mary’s prophetic action demonstrated a profound emotional bond with Jesus that could only be nurtured with shared somatic empathy. 


    read or listen


  • HOLY tuesday • APRIL 12, 2022

    On this Holy Tuesday, Greg Woods reflects on the beloved children of God from his perspective as a person with a speech impediment.


    Yet, throughout my life, I have to admit that I have failed to see others as children of God, especially other disabled people. Both internalized and societal ableism caused me to see myself as “better” and “less disabled” than other disabled people. Even as a disabled person I need to be aware of my own biases to free myself from this ableist society. The ableist society does not want to see how I/we can build solidarity with others. It thrives on the oppression of people that are not deemed “perfect” because of their disability, who they love, how they look etc. Because of this, I have often failed to see how solidarity with other disabled people and other oppressed people could liberate me from the oppression I internalized.


    listen or read

  • HOLY Wednesday • APRIL 13, 2022

    Louis Jones and Bethany McKinney Fox usher in Holy Wednesday with a conversation and reflection. Louis speaks from his perspective as a person of color and a person who has been labeled with disabilities.  He critiques today's society based on the model of Jesus' life.  


    They need “lay aside weight” like preconceived judgements, looking at someone and thinking they are stupid. They need to consider that these are unfounded thoughts if they haven’t even talked to the person or gotten to know them. And to lay aside sins – how they treat each other, how they act out on these thoughts/emotions that they may think about disabled people. I would tell them not to judge the book by its cover. 


    read or listen

  • maundy Thursday • APRIL 14, 2022

    Our reflection for Maundy Thursday is given by Rosalba Bea Rios who reflects on how Christ "identifies with our suffering and meets us in it." 


    We do not know what lays ahead this year or beyond, but we can take comfort in knowing that God incarnate identifies with our suffering and meets us in it. This physical reality is fleeting and we are all destined to meet the angel of death one day. Nonetheless, Jesus has paved a way for a new life free from existential dread through his sacrificial love. He truly is the way, the truth, and the life. In remembrance of his death, we partake of the physical bread and wine, but also remember him by taking part in loving and serving one another as he did.


    Listen or Read

  • Good Friday • APril 15, 2022

    The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability

    by Nancy Eiesland


    Jesus Christ the disabled God, is not a romanticized notion of "overcomer" God. Instead here is God as survivor. Here language fails because the term "survivor" in our society is contaminated with notions of victimization, radical individualism, and alienation, as well as with an ethos of virtuous suffering. In contradistinction to that cultural icon, the image of survivor here evoked is that of a simple, unself-pitying, honest body, for whom the limits of power are palpable but not tragic. The disabled God embodies the ability to see clearly the complexity and the "mixed blessing" of life and bodies, without living in despair. This revelation is of a God for us who celebrates joy and experiences pain not separately in time or space, but simultaneously. 


    READ


  • Holy Saturday • APRIL 16, 2022

    Emmie Arnold describes Holy Saturday as a moment where time stands and lies still like the notion of "crip time." She speaks from the perspective a of person with fibromyalgia and bipolar disorder. Join us on this Holy Saturday as we wait, reflect, and wonder. 


    So let us, on this Holy Saturday, enter into a day of liturgical crip time, where we wait in uncertain expectation for a most certain hope.


    read or listen

  • easter SunDAY • APRIL 17, 2022

    Zachary Holler celebrates the risen Christ in the final reflection in Disabling Lent: An Anti-Ableist Lenten Devotional. 


    listen or read

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  • Ash Wednesday • March 2, 2022

    Listen to Rev. Letiah Fraser's Ash Wednesday Reflection on Sound Cloud.  If reading is easier for you than listening, you can read the reflection at the same link. Latiah is a person with a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy who confesses her struggle to get over her internalized ableism. 


    "To remember that humans “were made out of soil, and we will once again turn into soil” is to make space for both the fragility of abled and disabled bodies. And it invites all to befriend our mortality. We will all die. It will not matter whose bodies are abled or disabled. All our bodies will provide nutrients for the earth."


    Listen or read

  • THURSDAY • MARCH 3, 2022

    Finding Healing In My Disability by Rev. Kyle Stevenson


    In the risen Christ, we can meet Jesus, who is victorious over death and is powerful while still having a non-normative, disabled, and vulnerable body. Encountering a risen Jesus who is not cured and restored to a normative body is healing for me. 


    Read


  • Friday • MARCH 4, 2022

    The Paralympics begin today and run through March 13. 

    Take some time to watch some of the Paralympic events.


     www.paralympic.org

    www.youtube.com/paralympics


    How to watch the paralympics.

  • Saturday • MARCH 5, 2022

    Go for a walk in your neighborhood or downtown. While on your walk, take note of the sidewalks. Are there continuous sidewalks on both sides of the street? Are the sidewalks level? Is there snow blocking the path? What about objects like trash cans, signs, displays? Consider how these factors might impact pedestrians with disabilities.

  • 1st SUNDAY of LEnt • MARCH 6, 2022

    Heather Lanier expands on what it means to wrestle with God as the parent of a disabled child.  


    For a time, I raged a little at Jesus. I heard the healing stories in church and huffed. I encountered the stories during my morning Bible time and scrutinized. Please stop ‘fixing the cripple,’ Jesus, I thought while my daughter’s walker wheeled across the sanctuary floor.


      Listen or read

  • MONDAY • MARCH 7, 2022

    Stella Young  • I’m Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much


  • TUESDAY • MARCH 8, 2022

    If you are shoveling snow today or anytime this month, help to clear a nearby sidewalk or curb cut at an intersection.

  • WEDNESDAY • MARCH 9, 2022

    Disability Justice, A Working Draft by Patty Bern


    A Disability Justice framework understands that all bodies are unique and essential, that all bodies have strengths and needs that must be met. We know that we are powerful not despite the complexities of our bodies, but because of them. We understand that all bodies are caught in these bindings of ability, race, gender, sexuality, class, nation state and imperialism, and that we cannot separate them. These are the positions from where we struggle. We are in a global system that is incompatible with life. There is no way stop a single gear in motion — we must dismantle this machine.


    Read



  • THURSDAY • MARCH 10, 2022

    Captions are a way for deaf and hard of hearing media viewers to know what is being said. Learn how to enable captions on the movie or show you are watching. Consider how subtitles or closed captioning might improve accessibility for all viewers.

  • FRIDAY • MARCH 11, 2022

    Zoom has made work and connection possible for many of us during the pandemic.  Did you know there are settings and options available to make Zoom more accessible? 

    Read "Zoom Accessibility Best Practices"

    Incorporate these practices into your next Zoom meeting.


    READ



  • SATURDAY • MARCH 12, 2022

    When you go to the grocery store, pay attention to accessibility and accessibility barriers. What challenges might a wheelchair user encounter? What about a person who is low vision or blind? Consider things like the way the store is organized, the positioning/height of items, the credit card machine in the checkout line.


  • 2nd SUNDAY of Lent • MARCH 13, 2022

    On this the 2nd Sunday of Lent, Erin Raffety asks the church the hard questions of inclusion. Like Jesus, sometimes we have to lead people into times of discomfort. 


    One of the unlikely promises of returning to the season of Lent year after year is that we have new opportunities to listen and to follow God differently along the way. Coming to terms with ableism is not a one off moment, but a fluid journey of confession, repentance, and growth that requires that I take up my cross. That comes down to learning to perceive myself and my sins more clearly, and what if rebuke is an invitation to do just that?


    listen or read

  • MONDAY • MARCH 14, 2022

    Learn about the Spoon Theory: a grounding and shared concept of limited capacity for people living with disabilities. 


    READ

  • TUESDAY • MARCH 15, 2022

    Audio description is a feature that narrates visual content in TV, movies, and other media. When you are watching a show or movie, check to see if audio description is available and enable this feature.


  • WEDNESDAY • MARCH 16, 2022

    "You Get Proud By Practicing" by Laura Hershey

    You do not need

    a better body, a purer spirit, or a Ph.D.

    to be proud.

    You do not need

    a lot of money, a handsome boyfriend, or a nice car.

    You do not need

    to be able to walk, or see, or hear,

    or use big, complicated words,

    or do any of those things that you just can’t do

    to be proud. 

    A caseworker

    Cannot make you proud,

    or a doctor.

    You only need more practice.

    You get proud

    by practicing.


    READ the full poem


  • ThurSDAY • MARCH 17, 2022

    Dr Naomi Lawson Jacobs shared her own story and her calling to tell the stories of fellow disabled persons at the Inclusive Church Disability Conference in 2021. 


    Inclusive Church has five focus areas for the church on inclusion, Disability is one they focus on regularly as a growing edge.  Inclusive Church is an intentional connection that HGW has made for our community formation.  They are based in the UK. 



  • FRIDAY • MARCH 18, 2022

    Check out and follow disabled activists on social media. Some we recommend are: Alice WongLydia X Z Brown Mia MingusDISABILITY THEOLOGY Haben Girma Disabled Feminist

  • saturDAY • MARCH 19, 2022

    Watch the movie Crip Camp and consider

    signing up for the HGW film discussion.



  • 3rd SUNDAY of LENT • MARCH 20, 2022

    Tiffany Jones expands on the story of Jesus and the marketplace with a reflection titled, "Cleansing the Temple of Performative Allyship". Read. Reflect. Act.


    As Christians, called to participate in God’s kin-dom, our involvement in process of disability justice, education, and awareness is both an exercise of spiritual practice and an act of worshipping the same God for whom Jesus travelled to Jerusalem to honor. As such, I think an awful lot about performative allyship and its implications for faithful praxis and living.  


    listen or Read

  • MONDAY • MARCH 21, 2022

    "Disabled Deaths Are Not Your Encouraging News."  


    READ


    Consider how you can protect the safety of the immunocompromised individuals around you. Remember that it is not always apparent who around you is immunocompromised.


  • TUESDAY • MARCH 22, 2022

    Go for a walk in your neighborhood or in town. Take note of the intersections you cross. Does the intersection have an audible pedestrian signal so that those with vision loss know when to walk? What about vibrations in the signal for deaf-blind pedestrians? Are there curb cuts for wheelchair users? Do you notice raised bumps at the intersection? How might these accessibility features benefit all of us, even those without disabilities? If these features are not present where you are walking, consider how this presents barriers for disabled traveler

  • WEDNESDAY • MARCH 23, 2022

    Explore the art created by adults with disabilities at BomB Diggity Arts in Portland and


      SpindleWorks in Brunswick.


  • THURSDAY • MARCH 24, 2022

    Watch Dancing Disability 2019 to learn about Alice Shepherd and other disabled dancers.



    watch without audio description



  • FRIDAY • MARCH 25, 2022

    Reflect on the language we use in our religious language about disabilities. Read an excerpt from "Disability: The Inclusive Church Resource" by John Hull. 


    Read



  • Saturday • MARCH 26, 2022

    Check out the Disability Visibility Project online and/or subscribe to the corresponding podcast.


  • 4th Sunday of lent • MARCH 27, 2022

    Rev. Kyle Stevenson invites us in to a Lenten practice of acknowledging ugly truths. 


    The human condition is clearly a mess. Long before the Covid-19 pandemic, there has always been the persistent pandemic of white-supremacy and ableism. Human beings think they have the power to decide which body types and minds are fully human. There have always been disparities in health care that impact Black people disproportionately. Folks with disabilities have still been deemed not worthy of care. This world is sick-unto death. 


    LISTEN or read

  • MONDAY • MARCH 28, 2022

    Forced Intimacy: An Ableist Norm by Mia Mingus


    “Forced Intimacy” is a term I have been using for years to refer to the common, daily experience of disabled people being expected to share personal parts of ourselves to survive in an ableist world. This often takes the form of being expected to share (very) personal information with able bodied people to get basic access, but it also includes forced physical intimacy, especially for those of us who need physical help that often requires touching of our bodies.


    READ 


  • Tuesday • MARCH 29, 2022

    Consider the ways that ableism comes up in your language and the language of those around you. Do you find yourself using words like “crazy,” “stupid,” “blind?” Consider how you can be more intentional in the language you use every day.


    Ableism/Language by Autistic Hoya A Blog By Lydia X Z Brown

    READ


  • WEDNESDAY • MARCH 30, 2022

    Rebecca Anderson, The Parable of the Good Samaritan

    Keynote address at the 2019 March Super Saturday of the Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island Conferences of the United Church of Christ



  • Thursday • MARCH 31, 2022

    When you are out today at the grocery store or another location, take note of the various sensory stimuli around you. Are there bright or flashing lights? Is there music playing? What about the rattling of carts and the beeping in checkout lines? How does the place you are in present barriers or a welcome environment for those with sensory processing difficulties?


  • Friday • April 1, 2022

    "Inclusion” By Sarah R. Nettleton


    Read

  • SATURDAY • APRIL 2, 2022

    Purchase or reserve a book at the library on disability culture and activism. A list of suggested titles can be found here.


    Book List


  • 5th Sunday of lent • APRIL 3, 2022

    Lisa McKee invites us to the hard slog towards Easter.


    Sometimes I think that if I had seen your wounds, it would be easier for me to believe that you really do love this creature, living in this body that you created and called without doubt when I was young. I am such a Thomas, and you loved him, too. I also know that You are not all that big on knowing, pun intended. You are also not big on certain bodies or intelligence. You invite everyone to follow and learn to love. And you show us that expansive love is costly. That’s Your whole portfolio.


    Listen or Read

  • Monday • APRIL 4, 2022

    Quote by Stacey Milbern from Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice


    I know disabled people are perfect as we are because I believe we were made by the same hand that made flowers, and mice and dogs and stars, and they are perfect as they are. I know God wants us to strive for justice because God is love and justice is what Love looks like in public (Cornel West). 


    READ

  • TuesDAY • APRIL 5, 2022

    Do you like posting photos on Instagram, Facebook, or other social media platforms? To improve the accessibility of the photos you share, include image descriptions by writing a caption directly in your post.


    Learn more here.


  • WEDNESDAY • APRIL 6, 2022

    Ruth Wilde, National Coordinator for Inclusive Church UK, sermon "Moses, Disability, and Inclusion."




  • THurSDAY • APRIL 7, 2022

    Learn about Certified deaf interpreter Regan Thibodeau and her contribution to the Maine CDC Covid response for the Sign Language Community.  


    WATCH or READ