movie theatres and church services

Perhaps one of my favorite things about l'Arche is being able to spend one-on-one time with the core members. The l'Arche model really encourages this because it is these moments that create bonds between the core members and the assistants. Yesterday, I took Joanni to the theatre down the road to see the computer animated feature, "Over the Hedge," which was a lot of fun. She loved the movie and managed to stay relatively quiet (a good thing, because the movie theatre was packed). Joanni, like any two-year-old, has trouble with self-control, so if she sees a bear or a dog, she wants to communicate that to you wherever you happen to be. This wouldn't be a problem if 1)Joanni weren't so big and 2) her signs and noises weren't so loud or overwhelming. Her bear sign is a loud growling noise (only appropriate) that is considered sweet at home, but can be rather terrifying for a stranger walking by. She also loves to touch things, and people, including strangers. I have to remind her to be gentle and not to touch people she doesn't know. Joanni is the sweetest lamb on earth, but if I didn't know her, I would be afraid for sure.

Erin was able to go to the Mennonite church with us this morning, also enjoyable. Erin loves to talk, though she isnt always intelligable (according to us) and she becomes fixated on certain things and continues to talk about them for a long time. She loves hamburgers, so throughout the service, she would say things like, "Want hamburger. Want hamburger." or she would look at me and say "Hi Heather. Hi Heather." I tend to think Erin is a riot, also very sweet and lovable, but it's a bit tough when you are in church. Honestly, though, maybe your average church service shouldn't be so rigid that folks like Erin and Joanni would cause a scene. I mean, church is about a diverse body of believers who are joined together by a common faith in and emulation of Christ. As Christians, we are called to embrace diversity, to recognize that God has not made us all the same with the same abilities, the same mannerisms. Fortunately, the Mennonite church where we go knows about l'Arche and have enjoyed getting to know the core members we've brought with us to the services. It is a loving, unpretentious congregation, a family. But, I know of plenty of churches where Erin and Joanni's habits and ways of communicating would not go over well. I can only imagine the type of glares they would get sitting in certain congregations. It would probably be no different than the glares we were getting in the movie theatre. You know there's something wrong when you can't point out much difference between a church service and a movie showing in terms of the glares you receive when you are a bit loud or make a funny noise.