Learning to Perceive: Grace and the Emotional Conundrum of Disability

Abstract

When persons with disabilities enter a room, they frequently elicit strong emotional reactions from their non-disabled peers. These reactions are well known in disability studies and often they are blamed for the difficulty of integrating persons with disabilities into communities. Theologians have interpreted this emotional shock as proof that persons with disabilities are revelatory of God's grace because they shatter our idolatrous anthropologies and socio-political constructs. What has been discussed less is why everybody does not recognize this presence of grace in persons with disabilities, nor how those who experience negative feelings such as anger or disgust could overcome them. This article addresses these questions by appealing to the Eastern Orthodox ascetic tradition, where the grace of God becomes visible for those who learn to control their emotions and purify their sight from self-interest.