Justice is Love in Public

There is no Us without U. We're all in this together.

Our daughter Meredith was seven years old when a psychologist told us that she is autistic. Assuming that Meredith might have some garden-variety learning challenge, my wife Joy and I had sought testing for her. The word “autism” fell on us like a hammer blow.

Knowing little about the disorder, I imagined a bleak future for my little girl. And that particular clinician’s report gave us little reason to think otherwise.

My initial despair gradually gave way to a generalized resentment at the injustice of it all. As the sun set and the dinner plates were cleared away, my anger focused increasingly on God. So once the kids were down for bed, I took a walk.

The neighborhood streets were empty. The night was clear and moonless. It was just me and God under a starlit sky. And God got an earful. 

“Isn’t it enough that this kid had open-heart surgery as a toddler! And as a clergy family, you know that we don’t have the financial resources to guarantee a secure future for her, especially when Joy …