Weerlose Gemeenskap: Teologie, Gestremdheid en Menswaardigheid | Vulnerable Communion: Theology, Disability and Human Dignity

English Version

Weerlose Gemeenskap: Teologie, Gestremdheid en Menswaardigheid

18-22 Mei is ‘n belangrike datum op die 2011 kalender van die Teologiese Fakulteit op Stellenbosch. Die Fakulteit Teologie is dan die gasheer vir ‘n internasionale konferensie met die tema van Teologie, Gestremdheid en Menswaardigheid, wat ons in samewerking met die Fakulteit Medies aanbied as deel van Universiteit van Stellenbosch se hoopprojek. Een van die hoofsprekers by die konferensie is Thomas Reynolds, Mede Professor van Teologie, Emmanuel College, Toronto, Canada wie se mees onlangse boek, Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and Hospitality (Brazos, 2008) genomineer is vir die Michael Ramsey prys vir Teologiese Uitmuntendheid.

Ek het vir Tom leer ken tydens die tyd wat ek klas gegee het by St Norbert College, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Tom, ‘n besonderse teoloog, skryf Vulnerable Communion, wat goed pas by die konferensietema, na aanleiding van sy ervaring met sy seun Chris wat leef met Aspergersindroom – ‘n kondisie wat wat verband hou met autisme en wat sosiale interaksie baie moeilik maak.

In Vulnerable Communion wat dan ook opgedra is aan Chris, bespreek Tom die normaliteitskultus wat so diep ingebed is in ons hedendaagse samelewing wat net ruimte bied vir diegene wat geklassifiseer kan word as ryk, beeldskoon en gesond. Maar wat van die groot persentasie van mense soos ook Tom se seun Chris wat nie in hierdie definisie van “normaal” inpas nie? En wat van die meeste van ons wat soos Jürgen Moltmann uitwys, ook maar worstel met die “woundedness and weakness of human life?” (Reynolds, Vulnerable Communion, 117). Die realiteit van die saak is dat almal van ons wat tans gesond en “normal” is, net tydelik “abled-bodied” is. Vandag mag ‘n mens nog sterk en gesond wees, maar deel van die menslike kondisie is dat ons uiters weerloos is as dit kom by siekte of ongelukke. En deel van oudword beteken ook dat ons met die tyd heen al hoe meer afhanklik raak.

Om ons eie en ander se weerloosheid toe te eien het ‘n merkbare impak op ons verstaan

van God, onsself en die wêreld waarin ons leef. So skryf Tom Reynolds die volgende: “The vulnerability of another is a window into our own vulnerability, evoking a sympathetic relation that eludes the cult of normalcy, sweeping under the radar of conventional economies of value exchange. There is, oddly enough, a strength in weakness, a ‘usefulness’ in being of no use. Embracing our own weakness allows us to welcome weakness in another.” (Reynolds, Vulnerable Communion, 118). En verder: “For paradoxically, vulnerability is more than a liability. It has a strange humanizing power.” (p131)

Vir ons wat betrokke is by teologiese opleiding sowel as die opleiding van mediese personeel is dit is uiters belangrik om na te dink oor temas soos weerloosheid in onsself en in ander sowel as die besonderse menslike kapasiteit om moeilike situasies te oorbrug. Dokters word daagliks gekonfronteer met ongeneeslike siekte en gestremdhede wat kan wissel van ‘n verskeidenheid van verstandelik en fisiese beperkinge waarvoor daar nie genesing in die mediese sin van die woord is nie. Dominees moet pastorale hulp verleen aan gemeentelede wat een oomblik nog gesond is en dan kort voor lank afgetakel word deur siektes of ongelukke wat hulle met ernstige uitdagings laat.

Ons sien uit om tydens die konferensie in Mei saam te praat met kundiges vanuit ‘n verskeidenheid dissiplines soos Sielkunde, Medies, Filosofie en Teologie, asook met predikante, geestelike werkers, en personeel in die mediese professie. Teken solank hierdie datum aan in u dagboek en kom praat en dink saam oor hierdie belangrike tema!

Vulnerable Communion: Theology, Disability and Human Dignity

18-22 May is an important date on the 2011 calendar of the Faculty of Theology of Stellenbosch. The Faculty of Theology is then host to an international conference with the theme of Theology, Disability and Human Dignity in conjunction with the Medical Faculty as part of Stellenbosch University’s Hope Project. One of the keynote speakers at this conference is Thomas Reynolds, Associate Professor of Theology, Emmanuel College, Toronto, Canada whose most recent book, Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and Hospitality (Brazos, 2008) has been nominated for the Michael Ramsey prize for Theological Excellence.

I have come to know Tom well during the time we worked together at St Norbert College, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Tom, a wonderful theologian, writes Vulnerable Communion that closely relates to the conference theme with regard to his experience with his son Chris that lives with Asperger syndrome – a condition that is related to autism and that makes social interaction very difficult indeed.

In Vulnerable Communion that is dedicated to Chris, Tom describes the cult of normalcy, which is so deeply embedded in our contemporary society, and that only seems to leave room for those that are classified as rich, beautiful and healthy. However, a large percentage of people like also Tom’s son Chris would not fit into this definition of “normal.” Actually most of us wrestle with what Jurgen Moltmann calls “the woundedness and weakness of human life” (Reynolds, Vulnerable Communion, 117). The reality of the matter is that all of us who are currently healthy and “normal” are only temporally “abled-bodied.” Today one still may be strong and healthy, but part of the human condition is that we are incredibly vulnerable when it comes to illness or accidents. And part of growing older also means that as time goes by one becomes all the more dependent.

To recognize our own and other’s vulnerable has a marked impact on our understanding of God, ourselves and the world in which we live. Tom Reynolds writes the following: “The vulnerability of another is a window into our own vulnerability, evoking a sympathetic relation that eludes the cult of normalcy, sweeping under the radar of conventional economies of value exchange. There is, oddly enough, a strength in weakness, a ‘usefulness’ in being of no use. Embracing our own weakness allows us to welcome weakness in another” (Reynolds, Vulnerable Communion, 118). And as he says later on: “For paradoxically, vulnerability is more than a liability. It has a strange humanizing power.” (p131)

For us who are involved with theological education as well as the training of medical personnel, it is very important to contemplate themes such as vulnerability in ourselves and in others, in addition to the remarkable human capacity to overcome difficult situations. Doctors are daily confronted with incurable disease and disability that range from mental to physical difficulties for which there does not exist a cure in the medical sense of the word. Pastors are called to provide pastoral help to congregants who one moment still are healthy and the next are run down by disease or accidents which leave them with serious challenges.

We look forward to the conference in May where we will talk together with experts from a variety of different disciplines such as Psychology, Medicine, Philosophy and Theology, as well as pastors, spiritual workers, and personnel in the medical profession. Mark so long your calendars and join us for some interesting discussions on this important theme!

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