Brotherly Love

Philadelphia Museum of Art

In September, I ventured out of DC to the City of Brotherly Love, more commonly known as Philadelphia; to explore and learn about disability ministry there.  The day was informative as well as thought provoking.  In the morning I attended a meeting hosted by the archdiocese for volunteers who serve as advocates for people with disabilities in their parishes.  Three talks were given covering prenatal diagnosis, supporting families of children with disabilities, and older adults with acquired disabilities.  As a future OT, it was impressive to see the Church covering issues across the lifespan.  This meeting served as a reminder that our call to love and serve is life long and that the church really is there to support her flock from conception to natural death. It also helped me realize that we are all dependent on one another; a theme that continued later that day.


That afternoon I attended a Deaf Catholic Community Event.  As I looked around everyone there was communicating in sign language, socializing, and playing cards. Standing in the middle of a crowded parish hall, I was struck by how quiet it was.  I know that I should not have been surprised by this, but the quietness made me realize that I was in a place where the main form of communication was different from my current way of communicating, or rather my current ability to communicate.  I attended the event with someone who was fluent in sign language and so she was able to introduce me to her friends and translate for me.  As the time went on, I realized how dependent I was on my host who knew sign language to help me communicate.  I began to reflect on what God wanted me to learn that Saturday in a church hall outside of Philadelphia. 





 The City of Brotherly Love

To be dependent on someone else for a basic need such as communication was an important experience for me as a future OT, but also a reminder to me as a human being.   One of the main goals of OT is to help people gain independence in living their daily life; however when someone first receives an OT evaluation, they are dependent on others in some way to do basic activities essential to daily life. It is humbling to have to ask someone for help throughout the day.  It is necessary to remember that this can be difficult.  As health care practitioners we should be sensitive to the fact that this dependence can make people feel uncomfortable, vulnerable, and even helpless.  What an exciting notion that we can help people to regain or gain for the first time that independence that they need and desire to fully participate in daily life. 

As we go about our work as OTs, ministers, or whatever your situation in life might be, we should remember that in reality, we are all dependent on other people.  A conversation with my sister who is studying theology helped me to realize this. Everyone has limitations, we can never do it all on our own.  This is God’s plan for us, to love and help one another and to also receive love and help from the people He has placed in our lives.  Perhaps you can think of a time when you needed help, especially to do something simple.  Perhaps reflect on the way that you were shown God’s love through the help of another.  Let’s take time to be thankful for those times that we needed help and we were given it, and to reflect upon what God wanted to show us about ourselves, others, and His love for us.