Does Edward understand you God?
by JVS on Nov.05, 2010, under 2010
For the past month I’ve been looking at Edward and wondering what he’s thinking. Because of his very limited communication capacities I never really know what’s going on in that brain of his. Often I wonder what he comprehends of God. ”Does he understand you? Know you?” At times I struggle with this. But watching the animated film How to Tame Your Dragon with him last night helped. To me, the reconciling gospel was very much present in that story. Two warring sides brought together by an individual willing to sacrifice himself for their unity; the subtext was pretty obvious. And it made me wonder if this is how God communicates the gospel to a disabled young man… to a disabled young man and to countless young kids and parents who don’t know him yet.
If you’ve seen the film, here’s its biblical twin;
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Ephesians 2:14-22
November 5th, 2010 on 5:03 pm
Hi John,
I believe Edward and my daughter Mathea, and other folks with either Down Syndrome or other forms of intellectual disabilities might understand God differently than we typical folks do, and it might actually mean they may understand some things about God better than we do, just as we also understand some aspects of God better than they do.
I don’t know – it’s speculation – but it’s possible. They may not understand with instrumental logical ways as typical folks might but that doesn’t preclude them from intuitively knowing more than instrumental reason can tell.
To use Jewish philosopher Martin Buber’s terms, we often think of understanding in I-It terms (objectifying knowledge, scientific rational observation) but we can also know in I-Thou terms (relational knowledge, wholistic experiencing). There’s nothing to preclude Edward and Mathea and the like from I-Thou knowledge, which in some ways, isn’t what God really wants from us?
November 5th, 2010 on 10:34 am
God is not limited in his communication with Edward the way that we are. I am sure that as God loves Edward infinitely that he would NEVER leave him in the dark about who he is. You caught a glimpse of way way God can speak to Edward, but I am sure there are many more ways God whispers to him, just as God does for us.