Superficial Judgements

In society we are taught to label people according to their disability. I have a good friend that is blind I have known her for over 20 years and know so much about her. I recognise that her disability is only a very small part of what she amounts to. But in terms of classification she is seen in terms of the one thing she can't do which most people can and not the many things she can do that most people can't. She's not my friend because of this disability but for the many things she is good at like being down to earth, a good listener and memoriser, a confident, having a vast array of knowledge that she can apply appropriately, an ability to grasp my rather offbeat and complex sense of humour, the fact that I feel able to show more sides of myself towards her than perhaps anybody. She even managed to hold down a job as a computer programmer for more than 20 years something which even with my sight I couldn't manage.

As a worker in mental health I am especially aware of a tendency to label individuals in terms in terms of their illness. A common phrase is to say 'this person is schizophrenic or this person is autistic in the same sense as someone would say the food is horrible. Having spent a good part of my adult life working with people with Schizophrenia and Autism. I have come to realise that there are vast differences and complexities in everybody alive. It would be true to say 'this person has Schizophrenia or Autism although even wording it like this could lead to an array of wrong assumptions. Even intelligent, sensitive people seem to assume a kind of Jekyll and Hyde syndrome for the condition of Schizophrenia hence popular humour that comes out with such witicisms as 'you are never alone with Schizophrenia'. Having spent extensive time working in the field of Mental Health I haven't really ever seen that although I have seen a lot of depression and fear.

One of the great things I find about being a Christian is that I am never regarded in a knee jerk, superficial sense not even in terms of my many failings and weakness's but in terms of my potential. I am so glad and blessed that when God sees me he regards my abilities and he is far more patient and hopeful about me than I am about myself.