The boy's teacher sent him over to me. Hair styled with a youthful flair—a shock of colored spikes standing straight up—hands in his pockets, eyes averted, he approaches.
- Why won't you try the wheelchair?
- My parents won't let me sit in it.
- Why not?
- It brings bad luck.
- But… it's just an object with four wheels. An improved cart. A little vehicle!
Caught off guard, I feel the weight of centuries pressing down—the chasm that separates this boy's parents from the world we're trying to build.
I search for something that might reach him.
Did you know the TV remote was originally invented for handicapped people? You use one. Does it bring you bad luck?
Nothing. He thanks me politely but chooses to step aside while his classmates burst out laughing and start a wheelchair soccer game.
This small story calls to mind the words of Jesus, reminding us that the blind man did not sin, nor did his parents. Faith teaches us that nothing is bound to misfortune, and that the heaviest burden is believing an evil spirit could seize the sick or handicapped for trifling reasons. The young man I met was passing through a difficult phase. He reminded me how urgent it is to free our brothers and sisters from this alienating, prehistoric, absurd belief.
Jean Christophe Parisot - Deacon, myopathic, husband and father of four, 2016
From Ombres et Lumière no. 205