My dad’s eighty‑sixth heavenly birthday was last Wednesday. I didn’t mark it. I didn’t post on Facebook, visit the crematorium, post here, or even tell the kids. The words never came. I spent the day and the days after remembering him quietly instead.
Since college matured my writing, I’ve been revamping old blog posts, but it’s been hard seeing how my disability degeneration has stripped my independence.
Independence is important, but not as much as autonomy. Many able‑bodied people treat independence as the goal for disabled people and often misunderstand it in disability conversations. Autonomy, as control, choice, dignity, and the right to shape your own life, should be the real goal.
What do disabled people mean by autonomy?
I’ve seen my church grow, change, survive and thrive over the last sixteen years, but recently I've seen how fragile our identity has become when different backgrounds form and push different expectations of church and service styles. When those expectations clash with other leaders and congregation members, it splits the Church’s direction.
