photo credit: UnshakeableBelief.com

[Tweet “Isn’t the Golden Rule another way to live #inclusion? #unconditionalLove #understanding”]

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It wasn’t until I grew up and went to college that I realized how amazingly unprejudiced my parents were!  We were taught to judge each person by their character- not by their color, abilities, or disability.

Mom would say, “Don’t judge another person until you’ve walked a mile in their moccasins.”  Dad showed respect to everyone and lived by the “Golden Rule”. Their inclusive attitude was always balanced with wisdom 🙂

(my mom would always add- but be wise and discerning about what kind of person you associate with and let become your best friend 🙂 )

[Tweet “True #inclusion is looking past #abilities or #disabilities to see the #person.”]

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After Bethany was born, and we found out a few weeks later through genetic testing, that she did, indeed, have Trisomy 21 (down syndrome)- for some reason, I dreaded telling our parents that Bethany had down syndrome.

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I’m not sure why I was nervous, but my heart was already raw and afraid of what Bethany’s future held, and I wanted to somehow “protect” or “shelter” them from the fact that their granddaughter had down syndrome.

I remember vividly, the day we drove down to tell Jeff’s mom and my Dad’s about Bethany.

Why had I worried?  Their arms opened wide to comfort. Words of encouragement surrounded us. Love was the only thing that mattered. Love, compassion, inclusion, and understanding: that’s how our family lived.

 [Tweet “Parents have the primary #responsibility to #teach and #model #inclusion to their children.”]

My Dad is my only living parent now.  Almost 90 years young, he lives with us, works at Hy-Vee as a greeter 2 days a week and goes dancing 3-4 nights a week.  (yes- really!)

And he still lives with eyes that see people first. His heart still beats to the Golden Rule.

Women literally stand in line to dance with him! lol  But two nights ago, Dad noticed a woman in a wheelchair who was crippled and arthritic.  Though she could no longer dance, she was tapping one foot to the music.

My Dad! He looked past the disability and saw the person.

My Dad went over and asked her to dance.  And she smiled and said- “I’d love to. Thank you for asking!”

He held her hand and led her out to the dance floor. She wheeled opposite of him.  He began to shuffle and lead- she began to swirl and follow his moves in her wheelchair. Beautiful~

My dad was so excited when he came home and told us about excited this lady was!  Her joy made my Dad’s night.  After several dances, she tired but said, “You’ll never know how much it meant to me that you asked me to dance. No one has done that for years!”

Can we see the possibilities?  Can we reach out into someone’s world and draw them into ours? Can we let the golden rule mandate our living?

Can we open our hearts to each person who comes our way, and let the rhythm of love set the tempo for our souls?

[Tweet “Can you let the rhythm of #love set the tempo for your soul? “]

Surprising Treasures: Matthew 7:12 NLT

¹² “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.  #inclusion