Questions you may wish to consider (Or you may choose to totally ignore these questions and make up a new set that suits you and your context. Be brave.) • In this story, as in many others, Jesus ‘does something to someone’ that brings about a healing or a miracle. In this story his actions – at face value – are confronting. What do you think about the way Jesus acted in this story? • How do you respond to the idea that Darren was angry about what Jesus did? • Are you open to the idea of ‘healings’? Have you experienced one or do you know someone who has? Or do you reject the idea altogether? Can you explain the reasons for your stance? • Many people who live with disability feel unseen and unappreciated for the skills they have and the contribution they make. Many church buildings are still not disability accessible buildings. Not being able to come into a church certainly makes you ‘unseen’. How is your community managing these concerns? • Disability theology is a relatively new field of study and is pushing back on any uniform understanding of wholeness or completeness that relies on a fixed concept of what is ‘normal’. The idea of ‘healing’ is not always welcome. Have you heard of these ideas? Shane Clifton1 is a leading Australian theologian working in this area. • Sometimes people or institutions get angry about something that ‘breaks the rules’ even when the outcome of the rule-breaking leads to goodness entering the situation. Sometimes these ‘rules’ are unwritten and people are surprised when they get told off for trying something new. Has that ever happened in your church or community? • Was Jesus a rule-breaker? 1 www.abc.net.au/religion/crippling-christian-theology-disability-faith-and-doubt/12952958 86
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