[Blindtlk] Unsolicited Prayers

Tue Oct 8 23:52:47 UTC 2013

True; Well done.  

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Anjelina
Cruz
Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 7:51 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Unsolicited Prayers

 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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--
Anjelina

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