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| Image by Tommie Hansen |
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A GREETING
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
(Psalm 139:23)
A READING
For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you.
(Psalm 139:13-18)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
(Psalm 139:7)
A POEM
I’ve always felt different.
as though perhaps I came from a different planet
Dropped by accident
among a species so similar to me that no one can tell
from the outside
that I am not made of the same material.
Did you switch up the fabric for me somehow?
Did you choose a different shade of clay
without ever revealing your sleight of hand?...
“Abnormal”
“Fixated”
“Fails”
“Careless”
“Severe”
“Excessive”
These words worm into my secret places, sitting alongside the tender ones I hold close:
Beloved
Created
Desired
Redeemed...
My deepest longing is to know me as you know me,
so I beg you to guide my search with your eyes of grace
that I can see my inner terrain, filled with your fingerprints
marks of the artist’s hand.
And if there is an Other Side for me
where I emerge, labeled, named,
may it be a homecoming to myself, a blessed resolution to a lifetime of lostness
a new beginning
with a new tribe of fellow wanderers
who get what it is like
to be crafted from a different shade of cloth.
- Excerpts from "A Prayer for Seeking Your Neurodivergence," by Amanda Diekman
found on "Artfully Autistic," on medium.com.
VERSE OF THE DAY
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
(Psalm 139:9-10)
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| "Tom Shakespeare, intellect, with wheels," by Lucy Jones (2017). The title says it all: in this portrait, the head, the raised foot and the wheels form a trilogy of meaning. The head dominates, the "intellect" of Tom. The raised foot and smile have almost a direct relationship to each other, conveying joyfulness in conversational exchange. In this configuring, the wheel is a present and important part of the story of Tom, but not the defining part. How important is it for us to see those living with disabilities through the eyes of their friends who also live with disabilities? |
Psalm 139 is one of the most comforting texts in all of scripture. Its images feel like a warm embrace. It holds the promise that our uniqueness is cradled by God. The Psalmist tells us that we have been woven in the earth, drawing a connection between our identity and Creation itself.
The psalm can be deeply reassuring to all of us, but might especially speak to those who have trouble expressing who they are. People who live with neurodivergence know that feeling. The Psalmist tells us that even when we feel overwhelmed or shut down, when we are anxious, mute, feeling overstimulated or just unable to do what others do, God holds us. God's presence extends to our exhaustion, confusion and all the ways we feel different.
Today's poem by Amanda Diekman describes the challenge of being in the process of trying to understand more fully who we are. It can help to have friends and community who also have the same lived experience. It can help to have therapies and supportive health practitioners, but it can also be hard to hold a label, or the associations that come with certain diagnoses. Even as she searches, the voice of Diekman's poem describes a deep longing to find/identify more fully the person who has "God's fingerprints" on them.
When have you had trouble understanding your own thought patterns, emotions and reactions? How can that help you to embrace the differently abled gifts of those who are neurodivergent?
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| Image by Tommie Hansen |
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Scripture passages are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.
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LC† From Dust, Still Holy is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!