SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23 2025 - DISABLED AT THE TABLE
November 23, 2025
Deborah Laforet
“Disabled at the Table”
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by your
Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
Last spring I shared with you that I am autistic. The diagnosis is only a couple of years old and
I’m still learning a lot about it. I’ve actually just recently made the decision to talk to an specialist, so
that I can learn how my autism has affected my mental health, and how it presents in my daily life.
Sometimes life can get very overwhelming. I feel like I could use a little extra support, but it’s actually
been difficult to find it. There is a lot of support for children and youth on the autism spectrum, but it
feels like that help just drops off when one becomes an adult, although I think it’s getting better.
As an Affirming church, we have talked a lot about creating a space of belonging. We have
talked about anti-racism, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, valuing all ages, including youth and
children, and affirmation and justice for the 2S and LGBTQIA+ community. One group we don’t often
talk about are those with disabilities, and there is a growing body of knowledge and awareness in society
and within the church when it comes to talking about disabilities and the disabled.
A few years ago, in Broadview Magazine, there was an article about a new podcast, hosted by
Rev. Miriam Spies and Amy Panton, called The Mad and Crip Theology Podcast. They’re currently in
their fourth season, and might be worth a listen, but be prepared to have you mind stretched. When
Interviewed, the podcasters were asked why they used words like, “mad” and “crip,” which are often
used in negative ways.
Amy Panton responded, “Lots of people would consider ‘mad’to be used as an insult, like, ‘That
person is completely mad.’ We’re trying to subvert some of that ableism. Mental, emotional and
spiritual distress is a thing that everybody experiences.”
Ableism might be a new word. Ableism happens when those without disabilities are seen as the
norm and when they are seen as superior to those with disabilities or refers to those who have the
privilege of ignoring the struggles of those with disabilities.
Rev. Miriam Spies responded, “As a noun, ‘crip’ operates as a name, an identity, a taking back
of something that has been shameful. It’s a way of taking it back and making it a positive identity for us.
As a verb, it means to bend things to make them work for our minds and bodies.”
It’s good to listen to people very openly talking about their disability. For awhile, people were
avoiding the word disability and disabled, because they thought it was a harmful label. Instead, people
started saying people were ‘differently abled,’ but when we avoid those words, we avoid the
conversation. In my reading about autism, I learned that, for some, the acronym, ASD, does not stand
for Autism Spectrum Disorder or Autism Spectrum Disease. The ‘D’ stands for disability. Disorder or
Disease causes people to believe there is something wrong with the person. Disability though, rightly
refers to a condition that is not supported by our society, and where, in fact, there are barriers to living a
full life. I’ll give you an example of this new way of thinking.
Imagine someone arriving at a building - a grocery store, a library, a church, a service building -
and they are in a wheelchair. The building does not have a ramp, so this person cannot get into the
building without seeking some kind of special assistance. Some might say this person cannot get into
the building because they are in a wheelchair, which puts the emphasis and the onus on the person in the
wheelchair. Instead though, we might say, this person cannot get into the building because the building
is not accessible. This puts the onus and the responsibility on those who own the building and on
society itself for not mandating that the building be accessible. I have found that even when it comes to
houses, they all have steps up to the door. Those with a mobility disability have to pay a lot of money to
make their own homes accessible and all other homes are a barrier for those same people, making
socializing a struggle.
It’s a different way of thinking, and it is getting better, mostly because technology is helping to
create accessibility. Almost all shows now are closed captioned, for the hearing impaired. For the
visually impaired, braille has become more common, as well as audible prompts or computers that read
out loud. Some stores are offering quiet hours, with less music blasting from the speakers and dimming
harsh lights for those who get overwhelmed by all the sensory information.
Accommodations are helping but, as a society, we haven’t gotten past the idea that those with
disabilities are burdens to society. Often, they are treated like children. Today I am wearing this
sunflower lanyard. I wear it when I fly. This lanyard is for those with invisible disabilities. It helps
airport staff to know that this person might need accommodations. I have found that since I started
wearing this lanyard, people talk slower to me, and smile a lot, and I feel like I’m six years old.
Also, people with disabilities, have their agency taken away. People make decisions for them or
do things for them because it’s assumed they cannot do for themselves. They are treated as helpless and
incompetent.
Those with disabilities also sometimes cannot work or work as hard as others in society, so they
receive disability financial support, for which they are resented and which usually isn’t enough to live
well. Some of you who are seniors or who have seniors for whom you are caring know how difficult life
can get when mobility become difficult, when there is a loss of hearing, eye sight, or cognitive
adeptness,, and when finances don’t match the cost of living anymore. Seniors, a large part of our
population, are, like those with disabilities, also treated like children, seen as less productive, lose their
agency, and are given the bare minimum in supports.
Imagine a society where our elders and the disabled are seen as gifts, as sources of wisdom, and
as valuable parts of our society. What does it say about a society that does not support those less able,
less fit, and less productive than others? Imagine a church where accommodations are made so that all
can come to the table with ease and without barriers, and are treated as with love and respect.
The scripture passage Grace read for us today is another favourite. It’s often read at weddings, as
people find the words to be romantic, describing what love should look like between two people, but
that’s not what Paul was writing about. Paul was writing to a community, a community new to the faith,
that was struggling to be one body in Christ. These poetic words from Paul were addressed to a
community, not a couple. Hear the words again. I’m going to read them very slowly. I invite you to
close your eyes if you’d like or read the words on the screen. Some may like to write down some key
words or phrases that come to mind as you hear these words. I invite you to engage with the words in
your own way, and hear how these words describe how love is expressed in community or in society
Hear Paul’s words:
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
Love does not insist on its own way.
Love is not irritable.
Love keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.
Love bears all things.
Love believes all things.
Love hopes all things.
Love endures all things.
Love never ends.
Now, this is what we strive for. It does not come automatically and it does not come without
work. We are not perfect. I mentioned last week, that only God can love wholly and completely, but as
those made in the image of God, we strive to love as God loves.
We come to the end of our theme. The past five Sundays, we have been exploring topics of
belonging - creating a space where everyone has a place at the table. Of course, this work does not end
today. In fact, it becomes more crucial as we discuss amalgamation and possibly growing our
community, and as we discuss a new vision statement for a new church. Maybe we hold this passage
before us, reciting it often, reminding us how to live as a body of Christ.
May these words of Paul’s be our guide and our light as we strengthen our community and as we
learn to love our community, inside and outside of these walls; and may Creator, Christ, and Spirit keep
us strong, give us patience, and surround us with faith, hope, and love, but especially love. May it be so,
and thanks be to God. Amen.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
(Introduce yourself.)
The scripture passage I’m reading today is one of those passages that many outside of our
faith tradition would recognize. It’s often read at weddings, and sometimes at funerals.
It’s a description of love that seems to resonate for many. I am reading from Paul’s letter
to the people of Corinth, the first thirteen verses of chapter 13.
If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong
or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and
all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am
nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions and if I hand over my body so that I may
boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It
does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; 6 it does
not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they
will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we
prophesy only in part, 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see only a
reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then
I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love
remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.
May the Spirit guide our understanding of this sacred scripture. Amen.