In the mission, where I was as a boy, the mad and the disabled were not removed or separated from society. Nor were the dying. As a young boy, I asked many questions about this. It is something that is reflected in Paul Gauguin's paintings of Tahiti: when one looks closely, the grotesque appears amidst the beauty. A church photo (here) on the surface of it reveals a healthy, happy congregation. I am seated next to my father on the ground, in the left bottom corner. Next to my father is a local pastor, Koae. At Koae's shoulder crouches a man who is seriously deformed. In the land of my birth, the noble England, such people would by and large have been removed. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 80k.
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