My wife and I returned from Campo Alegre (SC), shortly after the Service of Gratitude that we celebrated on August 28, 2022, on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the Lutheran Institute Campos Verdejantes and, together, the National of Persons with Disabilities.
What an intense moment, this one we live. More than 300 people attended. Good thing to be able to get information and reflect on the topic “people with disabilities”.
We were still feeling sensitive when, on Wednesday, the 31st, we saw the post office car bringing us a letter. A letter in times of whatsapp? - I thought.
In the space for the sender it read: Almerinda Schulz. We read it and, soon after, silently meditate on its content. We have never received writing so dense, so beautiful... Its content is right there below:
São Bento do Sul, August 31, 2022
Deacon Valmi!
Dear Board of Directors!
I am the mother of a child who has an “autistic spectrum disorder”. It was on the radio that I heard about this house you are building. I want to express my thanks to the catechist, the deacons, the pastors, the choir and the community present for the service, in which I was privileged to participate. I praise God for the message given by that girl who was walking in front of the altar. Everything I saw and heard was impressive.
Society tries to get closer to people with disabilities. It aims to enable them to live a more normal life, with less isolation. In my city, for example, there are more and more parking spaces for wheelchair users; sidewalks are lowered; ramps are built; elevators and bathrooms equipped to improve the lives of those who have more difficulties in getting around.
If yesterday many people were terrified to see a person with a disability, today you can already see a feeling of joy in them when they realize that people with disabilities appear in public and are active. Believe! This really cheers me up.
I still often feel left out when I appear hand in hand with my son in certain circles of friendship. Exclusion is a heavy burden for me. At these times I always try to react with balance. But it is not easy.
My God! How liberating it was to hear Pastor Túlio Jansen talking about his experience as a father of children with disabilities. He said he had to “bury dreams”. As he spoke, a mother beside me began to sob. I think Jesus felt the same way when a deaf and stutterer was brought to him, so that he could lay his hands on him.
I remember that it hurt me a lot when, one day, an aunt asked: - Honey! What did you do that was so bad to deserve this burden? It's incredible such a thought, in the middle of the 21st century.
I left with a light soul after participating in the service you prepared. I understood that Jesus cares; he devotes himself; comes close; sighs; have compassion; love; pays attention to people with disabilities.
My husband helps me carry the constant worry about my son. He keeps repeating that there are many more people with disabilities circulating around us than we realize. There are people with visual, hearing, mental and physical disabilities. It's a pity to realize that most of these people don't recognize that such types of “pain” also restrict people.
I notice here in my city that people with such difficulties cannot learn something new; suffer in their school and professional training; hesitate to approach strangers to start a conversation.
The prayer that was said towards the end of the service also moved me. We all have a deficiency in common, that is: a heart that does not know how to love properly, neither God nor those close to us.
Today, more than ever, I realize that the words we say and the deeds we do are deficient in that love. Our efforts to love are often as clumsy as the babbling of a deaf-mute when he wants to say something.
I seek comfort in the Word of God. Even though the heart deficiency is my only deficiency, Jesus turns to me, takes pity on me and helps me. Jesus calls me by name; he touches me; he offers me supper and says:-You are forgiven! From this experience, it is impossible not to live in a Christian community.
Of course, I have to reckon with the fact that I will have to carry my shortcomings until the end of my life, since even after this experience of liberation, this latent lack of love of mine can creep back into my chest.
That's why I ask you: - Can I join the community of Instituto Luterano Campos Verdejantes? I have gifts and talents to contribute to this work.
If Jesus bore the shortcomings of all people on the cross, including those of my son, my husband and mine, and if at Easter he overcame the shortcomings of all people, then I have humble contentment to know that he it's close. I understood Campos Verdes as a sign of that.
To finish. I carry a heavy basket in my hands. It contains details of my past and present. The continual effort I make can breed hatred and illness, but it can also be my redemption. I'm doing the second option. Please! Answer my letter!...
Almerinda Schulz
