Wheelchair Reflections of Sacred Wonder
“There’s been a misunderstanding,” he told the officials, trying to explain himself without flying into a rage or falling apart. But they dismissed his entreaties as though disgusted, none of … Continue Reading Without Mercy: Flash Fiction
My problem is trust. I can no longer be transferred from wheelchair to bed and bed to wheelchair in my usual way. With progressive motorneuron disease, adaptations are always occurring, … Continue Reading Hope Blossoms: Prayer
I feel hesitant and awkward about this quote from Saint John Vianney: “Why not love our crosses, and make use of them to carry us to heaven?” I don’t really … Continue Reading Crosses Carry: Prayer
My prayer life is… well… it could use some improving. I recently made a video called “When Prayer Is Boring” reflecting on some of the challenges of daily prayer. During … Continue Reading Really, What Is Prayer?
I’m a generally content person. Considering my debilitating disease, that’s a very good thing. Except when it isn’t. Looking Back When I was 11 years old, I stopped physically attending … Continue Reading Sloth
I’m being tested. These past weeks have been difficult. Don’t think that this examination of conscience has just been a way for a writer to write something appealing for her … Continue Reading Wrath
It was naptime in the church basement kindergarten, and I was lying on my little mat looking through the spokes of my wheelchair at the dimly lit figures of Julie … Continue Reading Envy
“I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love.”[i] But it can buy a lot of nice stuff. Knowing that love is more valuable than any possession … Continue Reading Greed
Weighing all of 70 pounds, I doubt that anyone would accuse me of the sin of gluttony. But I don’t have to overeat to be a glutton. Looking Back When … Continue Reading Gluttony
I don’t think I’ve ever suffered from low self-esteem. As the smiling girl in the wheelchair, I’ve experienced much praise and extra complementary attention from childhood onward. Although I have … Continue Reading Pride
I want to read something to you … a reminder that, even in the worst times, it’s good to be here. Concluding my Lenten series, this is an intimate meditation … Continue Reading Way of the Cross
“I am poor and needy.”[i] Since I was a baby, and throughout my life, I have been slowly and relentlessly stripped of strength and abilities by progressive motorneuron disease. Crawling, … Continue Reading Stripped
“Son, why have you done this to us?”[i] Okay. I’m just going to say it. I don’t want to contract covid–19 and die. I don’t want any of my loved … Continue Reading Heartache
“Remain here and keep watch with me.”[i] I’m quite helpless. And I’m afraid. This Lent, as I continue to examine my struggles and weaknesses in the light of Christ, I … Continue Reading Abandonment
“It was our pain that he bore, our sufferings he endured.”[i] I love being alive, body and soul. Sometimes, though, I think that my diseased, crippled body looks like it’s … Continue Reading Pain
“Not my will.” How many times have I desperately longed for my life of progressive disability to be different? For countless hours upon hours I have agonized, with teenaged hormones … Continue Reading Agony
Christina Chase