Accessibility, barber shops, fast food joints, cell phones, and churches (3 of 3)

The upside is that accessibility is a big topic and many places are doing their best to become as accessible as possible. For example, there are a few local microbreweries that have popped up around this neighborhood recently that are wonderfully accessible.
Thank God for small mercies:)
The downside is that the world is not accessible. There are many places that I simply cannot go to anymore. Fast food joints, pubs, barbershops, churches, people’s homes, local transit, the list goes on, are impossible to go to and feel comfortable. Even places that claim to be accessible are often extremely difficult to navigate; especially when it comes to bathrooms.

(above pic of a well known fast food joint on Queen East with accessible doors and a stoop to drive your wheelchair over…)
I can see why some folks with disabilities become hermit-like. They build/renovate their homes around themselves in order to fit their needs, and when they go outside realize that their needs can’t be met. So they stay home where it’s safe and comfortable.
I know staying home all the time can be bad for a person’s health on so many levels including not having community, but I totally understand it.
A friend of mine got me thinking about this phenomenon. He had an accident in his car many years ago and became disabled. He is a Christian guy thinks very deeply and theologically about his situation. He talked about how Jesus, after the resurrection, still had wounds in his hands and side. His body on the other side of resurrection wasn’t made completely whole. My friend’s sense is that when we people are resurrected that our bodies may not be made whole either; just like Jesus. The difference, he suggests, is that Heaven will be accessible. People will not be forced to stay in their home just because it fits, because the entire world will ‘fit’!

I guess I’m not completely comfortable with that theory. I want my childhood theology to be true that when I am resurrected my body is made completely whole and that I can walk around wherever I find myself.

However, if he is right, I think I could live with that.
Actually, I’m pretty sure I’ll be thrilled with that. It’s Heaven after all. How bad can it be?

We shall see…

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