[Blindtlk] Unsolicited Prayers

Tue Oct 8 23:51:27 UTC 2013

 Arielle,
I like how you've handled these types of situations. Your approach is
more proactive . Rather than getting defensive, suggesting the person
 pray for those in need is a better use of their time. :)

On 10/8/13, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have a slightly different take on this issue because I'm not a
> Christian. In fact, I was raised Jewish and now consider myself
> Agnostic. In Jewish culture there is a tendency to be wary of any
> evangelist activities, and I was taught not to talk to evangelists if
> I could help it and certainly not to discuss my Judaism with people I
> didn't know and trust. Now that I am grown up and have some close
> Christian friends, I've let go of some of those fears and prejudices,
> but I still tend to be pretty private about my spiritual beliefs and I
> don't really know how to speak the Christian language or give
> scriptural responses. When people try to pray for me I feel it's a
> violation not only of my dignity and  wholeness as a blind person but
> also of my spiritual integrity and I don't like it being assumed that
> I'm a Christian or want to become one.
>
> That said, when it has happened to me a handful of times, I usually
> just go along unless it is inconvenient for me to stop and wait for
> them to pray for me. I'm not sure how well I could convince these
> folks of the follies of their thinking. If I have time and am feeling
> patient, and think the person might listen, I will tell them that I
> respect their desire to pray and I will leave the choice up to them,
> but that I believe their prayer would be better spent on others who
> experience real pain, such as starving children or people living in
> war-torn countries. People don't really seem to get it, but at least I
> try. In fact, if you are religious, you might think about trying to
> pay their prayer forward, either by praying with them if you feel
> comfortable with that or praying later on your own, and then thank God
> for the blessings in your life and pray for healing for those who are
> truly less fortunate. This is analogous to how if somebody buys me a
> meal just because I'm blind, (has happened a few times too), I will
> make a donation to a local food bank or the NFB in their honor. They
> obviously wanted to be charitable but just gave their charity to the
> wrong person, (me) so I'm just transferring their gift to someone who
> can really benefit. I don't know if prayer can work this way too, but
> perhaps it can.
>
> I once had a woman stop me on campus to tell me that she had been born
> with some kind of rare spinal deformity which God had healed. She
> didn't directly mention blindness but the implication was clear. I
> also knew a blind girl who, probably around age 15, told me that
> someone at church had healed her eyes in a ceremony. She was partially
> blind and I think her sight might have fluctuated enough that maybe
> she could believe it had improved when it didn't. I never saw her in
> person to verify whether her sight had actually changed, (she just
> told me this over the phone) but it was strange.
>
> Arielle
>
> On 10/8/13, justin williams <justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> It's not off topic; John 9 is awesome.  Why is it that people forget
>> that.
>> Seems like they harcon back to old testament when the blind profit fell
>> dead
>> when he found out that his sons died, or when the man rose from the
>> wheelchair after jesus laid hands on him.  Or any number of other
>> instances.
>> The one in John nine seems like that would be the deciding factor as that
>> it
>> is in the new testament.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Brandon
>> Olivares
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 6:58 PM
>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] an awkward experience
>>
>> 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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>>>
>>>
>>> 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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>
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-- 
Anjelina