Is there Meaning in Disability? Or is it the Wrong Question?

This article addresses the question of whether there is meaning in disability. Looking at personal accounts of parents about the birth of their disabled child signals the experience of devastation that leads them to ask, "Why?" The discussion investigates religious responses to this question to show that underlying these responses is the presupposition of a well-ordered moral universe ruled by God's will. This presupposition is traced back to a doctrine of providence that assumes power and control. In critique of this doctrine, an argument is presented that providence understood in Christian terms is about trust. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.