By: The Rev. Dan Kinkead
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God….. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
As a bivocational Priest in the ACNA, I hold a full time “secular” job outside of the morethanfulltime work of planting a viable Gospel centered church here in St. Louis. And, for the past 26 years, I have worked in the care and support of men and women with various developmental disabilities and mental illnesses. This Godgiven career has been a blessing from God! Not only has it afforded me the
opportunity to complete needed education and preparation for the Priesthood, but I have learned so many valuable lifelessons from people who some today would see as “unfit” to be alive.
You may remember from your history books that when the Nazis began to hold sway in Europe they began to marginalize groups of people and minorities, eventually leading to their murderous rampage of 13+ million Jews, gypsies, Christians, religious sects, homosexuals, elderly people, and infirmed and disabled people. It is the very people that I am blessed to be with every day that were the first targets for Nazi murder, as they were seen as useless to a society that wanted only genetic perfection as their end result.
And, today, organizations like Planned Parenthood again work to exterminate the “unwanted” by convincing women whose unborn babies have been diagnosed with various disabilities that it would be better for the child to die now than to live life in an institution.
Over the years, I have learned from some of the most disabled men and women that life is not about ability and finance but about appreciating the little things, like helping a child who cannot walk to first use a wheelchair and seeing the realization bloom that he or she is now free to see the world in a way not previously possible. Or watching a severely disabled 60 year old woman, who has never been able to leave her parents’ home, realize that she could enjoy seeing birds fly above her at the zoo or have her spirits brightened by the array of Christmas lights when she first visited a decorated mall at Christmas. Are these people “unwanted”? Are these people “unfit”? Absolutely not!
Those of us in the prolife movement too often overlook the fact that all ages and stages of life are precious and worthy of protection. Yes, we can give you great arguments about why abortion is devastating to the mother who chooses to end her baby’s life. We can tell you all the ins and outs of the abortion procedures and why the barbaric practice should end. But far fewer will take the time to promote the adoption of the severely disabled or to give toward the care and treatment of those older children in need. We must be consistent in our message if we are to impact the culture of death.
So, as our scripture appointed for today outlines, there are good things with which to occupy our minds; we are to seek truth and peace while shunning immorality and sloth. But, when our focus and our work still marginalize those most in need of our protection and advocacy, we have done the movement and the dear people in need a great disfavor. The law is clear, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.” As a people called to be separate from the world, we are to keep our thoughts on the things above, while working diligently to love and support and better the world around us with the love of Christ as our model and our strength.