CFC Blog #152: Putting "The Last" First

Reading this blog after the experience I had today was very fitting. I teach 3rd grade at a research school partnered with the University of Florida. Today my students were instructed to find a partner, someone whom they don't normally work with, and work together to revise their personal writing pieces. There is one student in my class (I'll call him Evan) that struggles in writing and has a learning disability. The other students are aware of the accommodations and extra support Evan needs to focus and learn. My heart filled up today when one student noticed he was sitting without a partner, staring at his piece. So the student walked over and sat next to Evan and asked him to read his writing aloud. After Evan read it, this student gave him advice on how he can add to his piece to make it even better. He did this in such a positive and encouraging manner. It was awesome to watch.

It seems to me that it is an innate human desire to want to genuinely support others, make them feel valued, and help them to see their potential. Thank you for this reminder, Lauren. :)

- Amanda

Putting “The Last” First

After visiting the nonprofit Starfire in Cincinnati the other week for a series of workshops on disability and inclusion, I debriefed with Founder Tim Vogt, his wife, and a new friend in the car as we drove to the airport. We got talking about how our society tends to “value” people, and how to push back against our habit of valuing those people who are physically and mentally able-bodied more.

Tim offered one way: he will always ask when he walks into a room “who is the most vulnerable person here?” and then try to orient his actions so that person is put first. For example, he told the story of earlier that day deciding where to sit for lunch. While there were many people he could have caught up with, he noticed a girl who was nonverbal and who was sitting alone – he immediately knew he should sit and talk with her.

I was struck by what Tim said and its connections to Christian theology (although I don’t think Tim meant there to be a connection) and the Biblical teaching of the “the last shall be first and the first shall be last.” Perhaps one of the most publicly visual examples of this in the Christian tradition has been Pope Francis kneeling down to wash the feet of refugees and prisoners on Holy Thursday.

The common thread through both Tim and Pope Francis’ thinking is “putting the last first” – and with this, a complete reordering of societal structures and traditional levels of status. While there will always be the danger of coming across as doing such for personal gain, when done in a genuine nature, actions like this can be extraordinarily radical. There can also be discomfort in these juxtapositions – like seeing a homeless man sit next to a man with a $10,000 watch on the NYC subway – but from tension comes growth, and thus change.