"You are my witnesses"

This is a four-story wall in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This wall is an incredibly powerful reminder that we are called to hear stories of those who have struggled and those who are oppressed peoples.

A preacher recently told me that she spoke of Autism very briefly in a sermon. The next day she got an email from a young woman saying "thank you", because the young woman had never heard anyone talk about Autism from the pulpit. The young woman said, “You spoke into a silence of which I was not even aware.” We need to speak stories about individuals with disabilities out from the world's silence.

In Heidi Neumark’s book, Breathing Space, she says that ectasy is "'ek stasis' and implies moving out of stasis” (31). This has strong implications for the church to act and speak; change is so desperately needed.

“As preachers engaged in a ministry of resistance, seeking to uncover the silenced voices of people with disabilities, we will be asked to rethink and resymbolize every aspect of Christian theology and faith.” Christine Smith, Preaching as Resistance