Prejudice by Susan L.

  Our PREFER (Peer Recovery Education for Employment and Resiliency) meeting Wednesday was about discrimination and prejudice. The woman who facilitated the meeting had a delightful sense of humour. She was bright and articulate and quick to poke fun at her situation. She happened to be confined to a wheelchair. She had grown up in an institution but was now living in and assisted living apartment which gave her much desired independence. She shared her dreams and ambitions with us. Dreams that many women have such as getting married and having children.
  She showed part of a movie that had been produced by people with visible challenges. It was uplifting and insightful. And here's the "however". A gentleman who was confined to a wheelchair shared his concerns about living a long life. He did not want to become old and decrepit. It made me smile to myself at the irony. Here were people speaking out against discriminating assumptions yet at the same time held their own. Age doesn't necessarily mean being decrepit does it?
  It's got me thinking. No matter how hard we try to be open minded, no matter how much we learn, those slippery rascals of prejudices are woven into the fabric of our existence. General comments about a group of people, be they old, young, black, white, disabled, or speak with an accent are discriminatory. We humans tend to be suspicious of what we don't understand. This suspicion takes us down the slippery slope of prejudice.
  I was sharing these thoughts with someone and caught myself uttering unintentional, subtle remarks that were presumptuous and discriminatory. I've had anti-oppression training but these attitudes are still there waiting in the wings. Why? They are a bi-product of any culture and upbringing I'm sad to say.
  In North America the demand for "perfect beauty" automatically condemns those who fall short. Just look at the age reducing creams on the market! The lesson? Old is ugly. Anything less than six pack rippling abs? Fat and lazy. We don't smell good enough, our hair is the wrong colour. Ewww, gray! The hour long show by Dr. Oz feeds on our fear of falling short. It is heartbreaking that he is so successful at what he does. Our "inadequacies" are the fodder for big bucks and even bigger profits. Those who live in the world and don't know Christ are hungry for a beauty that is only skin deep. To be less is to be an outcast, to be a "less than" person. It's enough to make you cry.
  Discrimination hurts everyone.
  Now I've gotten all serious, the Lord has offered up something to smile about: there's three turkey vultures roosting atop the dead tree in my front yard. Typical!
  "They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles." Ps 34:5-6