The Holy Spirit rolls in

The "Holy Spirit" is sitting outside. It is what I am calling the new used accessible white Dodge van that arrived yesterday. And it is waiting for me to ride on its wings.

After a locksmith and two battery jumps on various cars, including the one I traded in, and three calls to road service,, the van got off the truck, my old car got on the truck and I sat in the rain looking at the difference between being able to continue to work or not - accessible transportation.

For me, paratransit doesn't work. I don't have a job where I can predict where I have to go and when. It's impossible for me to give advance notice to schedule a location and still be able to do what I have to do my job effectively. And mass transit around here takes you to the malls. Period. Not to the myriad of places I need to go. I also don't have family available who can assist me in getting my equipment into a car to take me out on weekends or holidays, for errands, doctor's appointments, etc. Places I can't get any other way. And since I need a power chair to independently get around, the reality is if I go in someone's car I have to be pushed, which makes the pool of folks who can and will do that pretty small. I understand.

So here I sit this morning, my world transformed yet again. This is big. This is huge.

I have no idea where to go first. I rolled on and off of it yesterday, late and sat there in disbelief. A teenager passed by while the ramp was deployed. She peered inside the van, said "Cool," and kept walking. She had no idea she was watching the Holy Spirit at work.

I know. It takes my breath away how people are smart enough to figure out ways to help me without giving me charity and taking away my dignity. I am blessed because I work for what I get and am able to do that. Sometimes, like this morning, I get a glimpse of what a miracle it is when the impossible becomes possible with the help of friends, God and faith.

Yeah, I know it's just a minivan to everyone else. But I can get on it with a power chair, disability and all, paralysis and such notwithstanding- independently. Therein lies the difference between dignity and dependence, between self actualization and waste, between productivity and warehousing, between networking and isolation.

When our society gets that, really gets that, perhaps more people will be moved to help people with disabilities in ways that aren't about charity, but about dignity. I can only hope and pray, which, I've learned, does sometimes work.