Weeping for Jo-Cel and Gavin

This past Sunday night as we explored "the Path Project" I told the following story:

"Nobody should be treated the way I treated Jo-Cel. I met Jo-Cel Tagnesi at Barboursville Elementary School as we both began our kindergarten adventure together. On the playground Kindergarteners would typically be running around playing tag and kickball. Jo-Cel would not. Her muscular-dystrophy meant she moved about on braces surrounding both her legs and aluminum full-arm crutches. Her walk was labored and distinct. Now, if you are like me, you look back on some moments in your life with deep pride and satisfaction, and there are some moments you wish you could wipe away. In one of those latter moments I can remember taking various opportunities throughout elementary and middle school, along with some friends, to walk along the hallway behind Jo-Cel mimicking her awkward gait, rocking back and forth...right foot...left foot. I acted in ways which attempted to diminish her value, perhaps hoping to raise mine in the eyes of my peers. I'm not sure if she ever knew. I think perhaps she did. I think it may have just become the landscape of her life at school, and fairly typical of each weekday experience. I had not thought of Jo-Cel much until a couple of years ago. Our oldest son Gavin was 4 years old at the time and some complaints on his part led us to seek the help of an audiologist. Through that journey came a day when they told Lisa and I that Gavin had a neural hearing impairment which would require hearing aids. We took our boys home that day and put them to bed that evening. Then I went into our bedroom and I wept. I wept not for the diminished quality of life my son was experiencing because of his limitations on hearing. I did not weep because this was uncharted territory, though it was. I wept because I was afraid that people would miss out on the beauty of my son because they wouldn't be able to see him as anything other than the hearing impaired kid. And I wept for Jo-Cel Tagnesi, and for her parents, and for a world that had missed out on the beauty of their daughter because we couldn't see past the braces on her legs..."

this month's path project is about the foundational statements of Jesus where he says that we are to love our neighbor like we love ourselves and that we are to do unto others as we want them to do to us. we also shared the apostle John's words that we are total liars if we say we love God and we go on hating other people. we shared that our love for God was directly related to how we loved others. we should treat people kindly, patiently, generously, compassionately simply because God has declared their value. God has also declared our value, so we shouldn't spend time trying to steal it from others through destructive words and actions. during each remaining day in september we are putting these ideas into action with a task a day. these tasks include specific ways to use our words and our actions to remind others (family members, friends, and not-yet-friends) of their great value to God and to us. And to remind ourselves of our great value as well.

want to find out more about the path project and how you, your child, or your family can participate? click here.