For the good of us all

The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.
Jane Addams

People with disabilities have something the world needs. Harriet McBryde Johnson

One of the reactions I received to yesterday's post about staring and obstruction was from a rather successful friend with a disability who asked me if I thought she didn't understand what it was like to live with a disability.

I explained to her that I certainly thought she did. I also pointed out that for those of us (including myself ) who have certain advantages, the playing field is different than for those who don't.


She then asked me why this was different than able bodied people coming from different situations. She became angry and asked if I was suggesting that she should think about those people and somehow feel responsible toward them, to which I replied

"Well you could."

And there was a silence.

I suppose some might think of this dilemna as a saint or sinner situation. It's not about that. When we act in ways that directly provide a hand up or indirectly assist others, it's not always a huge investment of time. It can be an email, a phone call, even a few words of encouragement. That certainly doesn't make us a saint.

Nor does it make us a sinner if we have to say no. We all have our own bills to pay and know what's on our individual plates, what our resources are at any given time, etc.

But there is a middle ground shown by the way we live and act - an acknowledgment that in our own community there are others whom we can reach out toward.

I think the saint and sinner question often hides a more obvious truth: securing good things for ourselves is a precarious position as people with disabilities until others can have access to them too. Those who are forward thinking use their advantages to help pull others up, knowing that it is the overall well being of everyone in our community that matters in order to enact the changes we need to see.

There are many people I've met over the years who do exactly this. They are all around if you check out the blogosphere: those who share their knowledge, their compassion, their talents and have an earnest desire to improve life for those with disabilities. Take a moment and visit my sidebar links and you'll meet many of them. I don't think of them as saints or of others as sinners, however.

Just humans who care about the good of all of us.



[image description: The front page of a comic book by Clive Barker called Saint Sinner shows the illustration of a man in a brown suit with his arms outstretched, darkened eyes and his mouth open in a scream.]