Bits and Pieces, 2/19/06

A few posts I’ve especially appreciated recently:

Julana of Life in the Slow Lane speaks of numbered days in "Gifts of a handicap 13:..."

In December, I attended the Partners in Policymaking graduation dinner. The group was a mix of people with disabilities, parents, and professional advocates. You could not always tell where a person fit. I met a woman with no visible handicap, chatted, and inquired whether she had a family member with a disability. She had a brother who had died of AIDS, and had a son who "isn't diagnosed yet." (She was part of a church disability ministry.) [emphasis added]

It is easy to take health and able-bodied-ness – even what we would refer to as “normal life ” – for granted. I thought about this a lot when I was struggling with my babies. I also think about it when I visit the local retirement homes and visit my grandmothers. I think about it whenever I see or hear about someone who is somehow less than able-bodied (or able-minded.)

As Julana said in an earlier post, there should be no “us” vs. “them.” There should be no “fence” with “us” on the “healthy, normally-functioning” side and “them” on the “flawed” side. We should all be in it together in this life...because we are!

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At Dignan’s 75 Year Plan, Future Man* has a gem of a post on Romans, Reformers, and Relativists.

…let’s return to Dacey’s affirmation of secular, liberal relativism. The Calvinist critique of this form of relativism is not so much a matter of what the relativist doubts; it’s what he takes to be certain. Knowledge is ethical. Our knowing is either subordinate to God’s revealed will or it is not. There is no neutral territory where we can evaluate the claims of Christianity according to independent standards. Knowledge either begins with the fear of the Lord, or it doesn’t. God will never be discovered at the conclusion of an argument.

Read the whole post.

(*I wonder if he knows about this Future Man??)

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The wonderful Jan, her of the view from her, writes about Pure Sex:

[referring to presention of the Christian view on sex outside of marriage to non-Christians] The "because the Bible says," and "it's just not good for you" arguments can come across as empty and irrelevant. We all do things that aren't good for us. The casual wording of "my lame sex life" [from a website for a church’s ministry she links to] pulls the shiny wrapping paper off the "sex is fun, meaningless and required to live" marketing. It acknowledges that many people are unhappy with their sex life but they can't figure out why. It puts us on the same side - people who want loving relationships that work and meaningful sex.

I appreciate that she puts both non-Christians and Christians on the same side here (i.e., all humans have similar basic desires stemming from their God-given sexuality). I love it that she puts herself on the same side as Christians who want their sexuality to honor the One who gave it, rather than putting herself, as a single person, on the “other side” from those who are married. God bless her that she is aware that not every married person has a “perfect” sex life! (Or that, speaking from the standpoint of a [anonymous] married person, “everyone else” must have a better one than I do, or, mine would be so much better with “X“ person.) The myth of magic, wonderful, grass-is-always-greener sex has got to have its bogus cover blown way off!

Of course it’s obvious that the myth is a myth; why else would so many be looking for “perfect” sex outside of marriage, in the fantasy-land of p0rn or in their own imaginations? --Do they actually find it there?