The Reverend Mark L. Fitzhugh

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple . . .
Luke 14: 25-33

            Temple Grandin was diagnosed with autism when she was a child in the 1960s.  The doctor who officially diagnosed her recommended she be institutionalized, but her mother would not hear of it.  Despite the dire diagnosis, Temple's mother and a few far-sighted teachers recognized in her a young woman of exceptional talents and abilities, and helped Temple unlock them.                    

            I met Temple a few years ago in Birmingham, Alabama. Most comfortable around animals, Temple grew up to become a sought-after animal behaviorist and livestock consultant. Today she tells her story in her autobiography Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism.  Her extraordinary life is also the subject of an award-winning HBO film Temple Grandin.
            What I found to be so different about Temple Grandin's story is the fact that she is successful not despite her handicap, but because of it. She credits autism for her achievements, arguing that she would never have been so attuned to animal sensibilities, or the fine points of agricultural engineering, without the distinctive vision and hypersensitivity that marks her autism. 

            Temple has brought startling insight into two worlds - she did so not by overcoming the "cross" of autism, but by embracing it and learning from it.  Very often, I tend to think of the crosses we bear in life as disorders, disappointments, or even sometimes people we are forced to endure. Our crosses can demand a lot from us.  Our crosses are real - whether chronic illness, lesson plans, or an ability to listen - they can be sources of hope, joy, and discovery for others and ourselves. 

            Jesus Christ calls those who would be his disciples to imitate his spirit of humble generosity and compassion by picking up those crosses for the sake of others who are stumbling under heavier crosses than ours.  The faith we embrace in baptism is the unfailing hope that we can transform whatever crosses we carry in our lives into instruments of resurrection.   

Every blessing,

The Rev'd Mark L. Fitzhugh