The Devil Body: A Teachable Moment

In 2009, a 40 year old student of mine, bravely walked up to the front of the class and shared a story about the birth of her down-syndrome daughter. She balled and stumbled through her speech with heavy chokes. Interestingly, these chokes did not pre-empt what her audience expected them to. She was not mourning the thought of an "atypical" daughter, no, she was mourning her church. Upon seeing her and her daughter in the nursing room at her church, her pastor offered to bless the devil out of her daughter's body. She told him that the devil was not inside of her daughter. In front of this group of 18-24 year olds, she was mourning her Christian identity.

This moment was a long and hard three minutes for the whole classroom.

The silence in between the claps that made up the applause of her speech was jarringly crushing.

The air felt grey.

The air was suffocating from the sound pollution of hate.

The audiences' fingertips were as depressed as the lowest and darkest notes of her speech.

Not even I knew what to say.

I sat, a speech teacher, tongue-tied by the knots in my own stomach. 

A few exaggerated seconds passed and a miracle happened.............

A man, about the age of 40, stood to give his speech, which was originally about another topic, and at risk of his own grade, he decided to tell his story, which was the same as hers.

His pastor, his down syndrome son.

It was then that a new church was born. 

This church was born out of a belief of a more compassionate god that existed only between them.

Years later, I wish I knew these two students. 

I feel like they were preparing me for my future.

If it still exists between them, I want to join their church.

I too have seen the "devil-confusion" in peoples' eyes when meeting our family.

...as long, of course,  as I get to pray to the universe--its flowers, oceans, trees, and sky! 

'Cause, you know, I can't pray to no bearded-creep-judgmental white guy who hates people!