Baptistcare’s value of courage and justice in our actions, brings to mind the concept of advocacy. This is about standing up for what is right on behalf of those people who are not able to speak for themselves. As supporters of our elders, people with disabilities, and people with a mental illness, Baptistcare is in a position to defend and protect some of the most marginalised people in our society. How do we go about doing this?
I was in a restaurant and took advantage of their feedback form to bring attention to the lack of disability access. A simple example. As we put ourselves in the place of the people we serve and begin to recognise discrimination, ignorance, or fear of difference in our society, it becomes harder to keep quiet.
Ghandi said: We must become the change we wish to create.
Sometimes its not just about standing up for people who are not able to speak for themselves but also for those who feel their voice won't be heard or that their opinions are not important.
ReplyDeleteLet us be reminded of the Prayer of Saint Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.