1: Planting Our Feet On Common Ground - The Puzzle Piece Perspective Puzzle Pieces For many years I was intrigued with the idea of green and pink puzzle pieces. My car, suitcase, or desk generally has at least one of them close by. The puzzle piece is half green and half pink. Doug Bouman, School Psychologist at All Belong Center for Inclusive Education at the time, introduced me to those colors many years ago. As we look more deeply into the talents and areas of concern in children and adults, it’s clear that we are each a combination of greens and pinks. Green represents our areas of gifting and strength. Like the trees, grass, and growth in creation, we each have green spots. Pink, however, is also part of each life. It represents the “hot spots” and areas of weakness or concern. While perhaps not our favorite parts, we each have pink spots too. Psalm 139:13 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” I suspect that as God knit each one of us, He used green and pink yarn. As I reflect on my own life, it’s clear to see both the green and pink parts. Green for me is anything having to do with words. I love words. I enjoy reading them, writing them, and speaking them – although my husband is quick to point out that sometimes this green can become a pink if I speak too many words! I have a Facebook account primarily to play word games with my friends and family. Scrabble, Boggle, Quiddler, and Words with Friends are all at the top of my list of favorites. Pink for me, however, is anything having to do with eye-hand coordination. When my sons ask me to play one of their video games, it’s generally because they will win and I will lose. If you throw a ball at me, don’t expect me to catch it, kick it, or strike it. That’s very difficult for me. What about you? What are your green areas of strength and your pink areas of struggle? Is your puzzle piece similar to mine or is it the exact opposite? Would you rather play on your church softball team or offer the prayer in front of a group of people? For the sake of this topic, think for a few minutes about your gift areas. What is easy for you? Some people may pick speaking or writing, while others may excel in making a pie, taking apart and reassembling a car engine, showing hospitality, or singing. What is it for you? Likewise, what are your pink spots? Perhaps you joined me in grade 4 – last one against the wall to be picked for the recess sport team. Perhaps it’s difficult for you to pay attention, keep things organized, spell, use numbers, or bake. What is pink for you? Lessons Learned From Puzzle Pieces As you examine your own puzzle piece, consider some of the lessons they can teach us. First, God does not make puzzle pieces that are all pink. Scripture is clear. Each one has been given a gift to bring to the body of believers – a gift that can encourage and build that community. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:15-16 While we know this is true, how often do we hear people assume that a person with a disability is an “all pink” person? “This is Down syndrome Clayton.” “Meet Cerebral Palsy Sue.” “You must be Autistic Simone.” “This is wheelchair Carlos.” It’s as though the person’s disability completely defines that individual’s life. As Christians, however, it’s clear to see that this is not “Down syndrome Clayton.” Rather, this is Clayton. He has been hand-knit and designed by God to fill a specific spot in His kingdom. God has given him gifts to use within the body of Christ, and he is to be considered an honored and indispensable member of that body. Clayton is a dearly loved child of God who also happens to have Down syndrome as part of his God-given design. While those outside our Christian communities may have a different pair of eyeglasses when viewing Clayton, our lenses have been crafted by God – and our vision is clear about Clayton’s worth and importance. Another lesson from our puzzle pieces suggests that God did not make any pieces that are all green. There is no one who gets an all green life; we are combinations of strengths and weaknesses. While I would have gladly traded mine in for an “all green” puzzle piece as I was waiting against the recess wall to be chosen for some team, that was also not God’s design. While there are undoubtedly many reasons for God’s design pattern, I suspect one of the reasons God makes us a combination of strengths and struggles is that He designed us to need one another. If I were all green, I would not need any of you. In a church setting, I could preach the sermon, design the banners on the walls, create the written publications, run the nursery, make tasty meals for those recently home from the hospital, serve as a greeter, do the landscaping, and fix the air conditioning when it breaks. Whether in a church, family, school, or community setting, we need to tap into the gifts of each one in order to function best. I was designed to need others. Another lesson of these puzzle pieces is that they link together. Places where I am strong, I can come alongside of you. Places where you are strong, you can support me. We fit together like a puzzle in the body of Christ. Not only did God hand-craft each individual, He also takes time to arrange them into communities. 1 Corinthians 12:18 says, “But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be.” Your presence in a community or family is no mistake. You have been beautifully designed and then PLACED by your creator. The Puzzle Piece Perspective When we put on the puzzle piece lenses, it impacts our actions, attitudes, and word choices. Imagine God hand-designing an individual and placing that person in the middle of a congregation. Yet, when the family visits the church, a leader approaches them and says, “Sorry. We don’t really have anything for you here.” Imagine a puzzle piece being sent away – one that God had intended to use to make that congregation stronger. In this case, who loses? I would contend everyone loses. The individual does not have access to the richness of the church setting and the congregation loses out on the gift God had intended to place with them. The puzzle piece perspective impacts the words we use when visiting a mom and dad in the hospital who just gave birth to a child with Spina Bifida. It allows us to focus on the child. We can comment on the child’s hair color, his eyes looking just like mom’s eyes, the length of labor and delivery, and what color they painted the nursery. You might also ask about issues related to Spina Bifida, but the focus is on the fact that a child was born – not a disability. How about the announcement in church the next Sunday? Should it sound like a funeral announcement? “I regret to inform you that Maggie and Jeff just gave birth to…” To what? A disability or a child? The puzzle piece perspective reminds us that a child has been born and we as a congregation will have a chance to grow and learn because of the child’s presence. What about the family who has a child with autism spectrum disorder signed up for Church school? Some ignore the puzzle piece perspective. They approach the parent and say, “I see Justin is signed up for Church school. What’s wrong with him?” This focuses on the pink part first. The whole world does this. Justin’s parents have been in countless meetings where they discuss how many degrees below zero, how dysfunctional, how atypical, and how deficient Justin is. We don’t need to do this! Be a welcome breath of fresh air. Armed with your puzzle piece spectacles, talk with the parent and say, “I see Justin is signed up for Church school. We are so glad to have him be part of this group. What does he love to do?” What a different conversation you can have! Puzzle pieces could make a difference in what we name our opportunities in churches and other settings. Do you really want to minister TO a person with a disability? Are we offering a ministry FOR that person? While there are times each of us need to be ministered to, those prepositions would seem to indicate that you are the green one and she is the pink one. Would you rather minister WITH a person with a disability? Could we help facilitate friendships instead of leaders and followers? If you spend any time at all with persons with disabilities, you will know that you have learned, received, and benefited from the relationship. So, let’s be honest with our names. Places where I am strong, I can help someone else. Places where I am weak, that individual can help me. Let’s make sure our written information and group names reflect that philosophy. The puzzle piece perspective also helps us as we think about how to create an environment for presenting an accessible gospel message. It wouldn’t make much sense to craft a “one size fits all” set of materials for presenting the gospel. Each individual is a unique blend of greens and pinks. We would first want to get to know that individual well; we will want to study God’s knitting pattern in that person. From that base, it will be much easier to select an idea that fits our friend, child, or student. In the same fashion, designing opportunities for inclusive worship will also be individualized and based on the unique gifts and needs of that person. A worship experience for someone who uses pictures to communicate will present different options than for a person who uses spoken words. We need to become experts on Tom and McKayla as we find ways to worship together. Finally, the puzzle pieces offer a kind of promise to those committed to this process. Finding places where all can worship together will clearly benefit the entire body of Christ as we link our puzzle piece lives together. 1 Corinthians 12 is loaded with information to remind us that each part of the body is critical. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:21-27 Pastor Mark Stephenson is quick to point out that we must be very cautious in making assumptions about which body parts are the “weak ones.” (Mark Stephenson, head of Disability Concerns for the Christian Reformed Church, has said this in conversation, and includes this idea in much of his writing and work, as can be seen at www.crcna.org/disability). While we may bring a certain perspective, this Scripture passage points out God may not share our perspective. “Those parts that seem to be weaker” suggests that it is our assumption, not God’s assumption. Designing environments for worship where we can each tell God “I love you” and we can each say the prayer words “Help me” will undoubtedly add a richness not yet imagined by some congregations. As I watch a prayer uttered with sign language or movements, my own verbal prayer can take on new meaning. Sitting close by us in church is a young adult named Brendan. Brendan’s puzzle piece is delightful. Green for Brendan is rhythm and music. He brings joy through his expressive smile, and he is an expert on Mario and Luigi. Pink for him is clearly spoken words and some areas of academic learning. Brendan loves church, but especially music – any music. In a church that can sometimes take jabs at one another musically – some preferring the hymnbook and others preferring songs heard on popular contemporary Christian radio programs – Brendan is our model. His enthusiasm, joy, and movements are equally applied to Charles Wesley’s hymn “Oh for a thousand tongues to sing” and Matt Redman’s contemporary song “Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.” Wesley and Redman ignite a connection with God in Brendan in a way that is infectious to those around him. He has brought a sort of glue to our worship experiences. Would you like additional ways to use these puzzle pieces within a group at your church, school, or family? The Puzzle Piece Lesson Plan is featured in chapter 6 of the book, Worship As One: Varied Abilities in the Body of Christ from With Ministries.
Last modified: Tuesday, January 2, 2024, 8:59 AM