麻豆约拍

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Ann Memmott. Ann is a national and international adviser on autism, and main author of autism guidelines for the Church of England.

Good morning

We are nearing the end of Autism Acceptance Week. Like most families, we look forward to sharing meals or time together with friends. Unlike most families, many of our friends are autistic. Those are moments to cherish, spending time in one another鈥檚 company, communicating in our own social language and sharing perhaps a breakfast, a cup of tea, something simple and sustaining. Just as lovely to do so with non-autistic friends and family, of course.
Jesus had much to say about feeding people, and he wasn鈥檛 just talking about food. He was also talking about how we give people love, encouragement, faith, friendship, hope. This is something we have worked towards for years at the annual disability and neurodiversity conferences at St Martin in the Fields. A banquet for all, shared as friends.

That banquet for all is also something I鈥檓 writing about with a theologian friend, Helen. What does a banquet mean, for autistic people? There have been moments when some autistic people have felt what it is like to be unwelcome or excluded. Perhaps through assumption that we would have no money to donate, or that church would be too scary for us, or too incomprehensible. That surely there must be other places we could go to learn about God. Yet, there was no income check before the five thousand were fed by Jesus, no request that the autistic people go somewhere else for food. All are loved, all fed.

Lord, as we break bread and share your gifts, help us to look anew at those who share alongside us, whose place at your banquet in heaven is given by your grace, welcomed and loved as equals with other people and as cherished by you for who we are.

Amen.