Outside of my full-time job, I've had the opportunity to freelance write for Mockingbird magazine. In their "Sickness and Health" print issue, I had the privilege of interviewing Daniel Harris, a native Memphian cerebral palsy artist, author, actor, and activist who has a doctorate of ministry focused on disability.

Here's an excerpt from Redefining Disability:

If I asked you to name three stories of sickness from the Bible, I’m guessing you could easily rattle them off: stories of leprosy, plagues, the bleeding woman who touched Jesus’s robe and was healed. But what about disability? Could you still name three? And here’s a catch — the stories don’t end with a healing.

It’s difficult, right? Partially that’s because this subject isn’t often talked about in church — and there might be a reason for that. When we look at wellness through an able-bodied lens, we either lose or ignore stories about disability altogether. To understand where people with disabilities have been present in God’s story, and where they’re alive and well in the body of Christ today, we need another lens.

Enter: Daniel Harris. At six months old, Daniel’s parents were told he had cerebral palsy and might never walk or talk. But God had other plans for Daniel. Today, Harris identifies as a native Memphian cerebral palsy artist, author, actor, and activist. I first met Daniel a few years ago on the other side of the screen in Washington, D.C., as he spoke for my church’s five-year anniversary. I kept hearing his name mentioned during discussions about disability and the Church. And I understood why after I learned that he’s currently working on his doctorate of ministry focusing on disability.

You can find him acting in a theater, or at Western Theological Seminary working on his dissertation relating blues music to disability, or on YouTube, where you can watch his recent TEDx Talk. Today you’re going to find him here, in this interview, where he defines disability theology and shares the powerful ways God uses people with disabilities in His story — both in the Bible and in the body of Christ now.