Let Us Embrace Our Vulnerable Population

In embracing our vulnerable population we embrace our own vulnerabilities.

We crave Love. Love is the base of all things. Love is survival. We crave, live and breathe for Love.

In embracing individuals that we previously misconceived as having lesser value, we find in fact their value is greater than ours as theirs is the truth-pathway to LOVE. In embracing those we do not fully understand; we must find within ourselves a deep patience and seek to view life in new and fresh way. It is in this way we find Love — a love deeper than we knew existed. A love that touches and speaks of God. We feel God and His Presence even if we are not religious; even if we are non-believers. Whatever we believe, we cannot deny what we feel. We call it Love. And yet it matters not what we call it. It only matters that we FEEL it.

Once we are touched by that feeling, we crave more. This Love lifts us, lights a fire within us. We find it hard to believe it was something we closed ourselves to. But we did not know we were living behind a closed door until our child with a disability; or our experience with individuals with disabilities opened the door for us. The blast of fresh air is what alerts us once we open our minds. It blasts us with a gust, not unlike a hurricane; it forces us out of our closed mind so far that we can never go back. We never want to go back. In fact all we want to do now is pound on closed doors in our desire that those behind the closed doors know this Love.

We see the fear, and know the difficulty to get past that fear. But once you feel the blast of fresh air in your face you cannot but want more of it, and want more of it for others. And so you advocate for your child, but it is so much more than equal rights and acceptance. It is a Love, a Love for all that lays hidden. A Love that is locked away inside of us. We are scared of it’s immensity. But in the fight for your child you release it. You must, for their sake more than yours. And you find in this unlocking a Love greater than you ever knew existed but it does exist in immensity all around you. And when you breathe it in fully it grows and grows and grows. There is no end to it, and though it is bigger than you could ever conceive, even a small slice of it breathes new life into. You cry in the sheer love that you feel. And you know you can never run out of that love because it is always there, it is bigger than anything your mind can conceive.

You must re-open yourself to this Love every day. Recharge yourself with it. When the doors start to shut due to habit or other’s actions — your child opens the door for you with a kiss on the cheek, a simple gesture, or a silliness. And when you try to describe this type of grand simplicity that has the power to open a door, those behind closed doors see only the simplicity of the gesture, as they have not opened themselves to the grandness. They refuse to open the door to this Love, staying in a sheltered space they know. Fully unaware that the immensity of Love is available to them if they only unlock the door. But when we don’t know, and what we only know is behind the door there is great security in that. There is great control in that. And we think we are thriving when really we are not. We have created a life that feels good behind the closed door. Even when it doesn’t feel good, it is what we know — how terrifying to go outside of what we know.

When we spend time to truly know and understand our vulnerable population, oh, what LOVE. It is open, it is free. Our children never tire of opening the door; it is their nature. It is on us to open ourselves to them.

You will know when you feel the Love. This Love is yours, it is all of ours. It is in endless supply. Let us circulate it. Let us ventilate closed doors. Let us embrace our vulnerable population.