[Blindtlk] an awkward experience

Tue Oct 8 22:57:39 UTC 2013

James,

Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that. As a Catholic, I don't get that kind of thing within the Catholic Church, thank God. It brings to mind this passage:

> As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him.” (John 9:1-3 RSVCE)

A bit off topic, but that came to mind.

On Oct 8, 2013, at 6:33 PM, "James Kelm" <jameskelm at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Hello there...
> 
>   I just thought that I would throw my own thoughts into this discussion.
> 
>   As many of you on this list already know, I am a Christian pastor.  I have a church, and work fulltime within this position.  I mention this only to say that I have perhaps a bit more familiarity with the Bible than a lot of people, and have a recognized commitment to its teaching.  But this still does not prevent those who are rude, ignorant, or just plain goofy from expressing themselves to me on the subject of my blindness.  I don't think that this is because they are any particular religion, belief system, etc. I just think that they are rude people, and would be rude regardless of their own justification.
> 
>   A few weeks ago, I had a woman visit my church.  A few days after her visit, she came to my home.  After I had answered the door, she promptly said that she had to talk to me right away, and that it was very important. This is not uncommon for a pastor, so thinking that she had some kind of a personal emergency, I invited her in.  After we had sat down, she began telling me that she really liked our church, and thought that I was a very good pastor/teacher.  She then proceeded to tell me that although she liked our church, she could not regularly attend our services because as our church's leader, I had so much unrepented sin in my life!  I have dealt with this kind of thing before, so had a good idea where she was going with it. I asked her to please explain herself to me.  She then went on to explain to me that unrepented sin was the only reason that I was blind.  I went on to gently explain to her that she was not understanding Scripture properly.  I was actually quite shocked when she then told me, "I don't care what the Bible says...  I know what I know, and God has revealed things to me directly".  She went on to explain to me that I shouldn't be allowed to lead a congregation, until I addressed the sin that was obviously within my own life!
>   So I guess the moral of my story is, that some people are just stupid, and sometimes even our Lord's teaching can't help stupid!
> 
> 
> Respectfully,
> Pastor James Kelm
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: o
> Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 5:07 PM
> To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] an awkward experience
> 
> Oh Marion - you have made my day!
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: National Association of Guide Dog Users <blind411 at verizon.net>
> To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List' <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tue, Oct 8, 2013 5:04 pm
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] an awkward experience
> 
> 
> Michael,
> I once went to my local grocery store and the person assigned to help me shop
> asked me if I believed in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I replied that I
> did, but probably not with the same understanding he has. He told me that, if I
> believed, I could be healed. I replied that I had already been healed of the
> false perceptions of blindness and that my blindness was actually a source of
> healing for others as I share my philosophy of independence and
> self-determination. He became a little indignant and said he was referring to me
> getting my sight back. I asked him why he thought that was important and he told
> me blindness wasn't normal. I asked him when he was going to be healed. He
> became a little puzzled and asked me what I meant. I told him that he was
> shorter than normal and black, not something that is normal in our town, so,
> given his logic and definition, he needed healing! Was Jesus going to heal him
> of his shortness and blackness? He told me I didn't understand what he was
> saying. I told him it was more that he did not understand what I was saying. He
> said, "God bless you!' and I replied, "She does!" The conversation ended quite
> abruptly!
> 
> Peace!
> Marion
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michael
> Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 9:24 AM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: [Blindtlk] an awkward experience
> 
> Good morning folks,  I lost my sight six years ago and went through a very dark
> time for a couple of years and eventually became comfortable with who I am and
> have since then gone on to do most of what I did before.
> 
> But I had an experience yesterday that I didn’t know how to handle.  I was at
> the gym and had just completed an hour of cardio.  I was sitting at a table
> located in the center of the gym floor cooling down when a woman began a
> conversation with me.  She said that she was sitting at the table also (which I
> doubt) and that God had put her there to talk to me and that she was an
> evangelist.   She asked if she could talk to me.  When I answered in the
> affirmative she stood next to me, took my hand in both of her hands, and began
> praying over me.  She asked God to help this poor  child, saying that Jesus had
> healed the sick, cured the blind, and raised the dead.  She prayed for over a
> minute (at least it felt like), using verbage that I only hear on Sunday
> morning.  Then she finished and left me sitting there.  I was shocked and didn’t
> know what to say.  I let her do her thing thinking that I had probably made her
> feel positive about herself by helping
> “this poor child”.  Understand that I am a christian but have never had such an
> embarrassing display since losing my sight.  Has this happened to others, and
> how did you handle such a display?
> 
> Michael
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> 
> 
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> 
> 
> Respectfully Yours in Christ,
> Pastor James Kelm
> True Hope Church of Duluth
> Phone: (218) 727-4186
> Church Office E-mail: office at thcduluth.org
> Pastor's Direct E-mail: jameskelm at thcduluth.org
> Web Site: www.thcduluth.org 
> 
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