Immigration struggles over medical condition deepens family’s faith
TORONTO, ON - Tom Reynolds, theology professor at Emmanuel College, is grateful for all the support his family received after The Toronto Star ran a story on how his son's Tourette's and Asperger's could prevent them from living in Canada.
But there is one thing they'd like to clear up. His family likes to smile.
The Star ran a rather serious picture of Tom, with sons Chris and Evan, accompanying the Star's “Family ripped apart, immigration says son with Asperger's 'inadmissible'."
But in person, Tom projects an incredible joy and excitement, especially when discussing his family and faith.
Tom is divorced from the boys' mother, although says she maintains a close, supportive relationship. He applied for residency with his sons, but was told by Immigration Canada that in order to stay in Canada he needed to prove Chris was not medically inadmissible, sign an affidavit that he would pay all his future medical costs or leave him off the application all together.
“The article in the Star had an amazing response," he says. “I was really humbled. Someone put a petition together for us. People wrote to their MPs. Chris was really touched."
Bob Rae, who is the family's Member of Parliament, also agreed to write a letter of support.
Twenty-year-old Chris opted not to be interviewed by ChristianWeek, but did request the paper run a happier family picture. Which seems fitting, as Tom can't keep the grin off his face as he explains how his relationship with his son blew his understanding of God wide open.
Tom used to play piano professionally in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a graduate of Taylor University in Indiana. His son had interpersonal and behavioural challenges from a young age, but it was only when he was 11 did the family receive a diagnosis of Asperger's and Tourette's.
By the time Chris was 13, Tom's challenges at home had spilled into his theology lessons.
“Basically I had the rug pulled out from my world full of easy answers," he says. “I found myself saying things in class which didn't square with my relationship with Chris. Like what it means to 'bear the image of God'...Chris would come home from school, after a day of having ticks. And he'd be in pain, and I'd hug him and say it was going to be okay. And I'd find myself wondering, “What do I mean by that? How do I proclaim that while my son suffers? Who do I expect my son to be?'
“Chris challenged my whole theological perspective, and it drove me to open the Scriptures."
He says he started right back at Genesis, and also found deep insights through Paul's teachings on strength and weaknesses.
“It suddenly opened this whole notion of vulnerability to me," he says. “Often the image of God is very narrowly defined thing. Both evangelicals and liberals have adopted his modern notion of 'self,' without thinking through that that means. An autonomous self. A self-governing self.
“But Paul says the body of Christ is only as strong as its weakest member. Jesus proclaimed blessed were the meek."
Tom's journey led him to write the book Vulnerable Communion, A Theology of Disability and Hospitality, which was shortlisted for the prestigious Michael Ramsey Prize of the Anglican Church, awarded this year by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Along with teaching interdisciplinary and relational vision of theology at Emmanuel, he also volunteers at the United Church's Christian Resource Centre in Regent's Park, which helps find “outside the box" church communities for people who are homeless or vulnerable.
He hopes to apply for permanent residency again on humanitarian grounds, and is enthusiastic about his love of Canada. But, thinking back to the support his family has received already, he is keenly aware that he too is reliant on the help of others to make becoming Canadian a reality.
He adds, “I feel the Church really needs to catch the vision of being Church in vulnerable communion with one another before God. A God who doesn't come in power and strength, but comes hidden in the cross. Jesus the homeless wanderer. The God who comes to us, and shares our pain.
“My son's name is Christopher, which means Christ-bearer. He taught me that it's not necessarily our strength or independence that makes us human before God, but our vulnerability, our weakness, our interdependence."
Dear Readers:
ChristianWeek relies on your generous support. please take a minute and donate to help give voice to stories that inform, encourage and inspire.
Donations of $20 or more will receive a charitable receipt.Thank you, from Christianweek.
