[Blindtlk] an awkward experience

Wed Oct 9 00:30:42 UTC 2013

It sounds like she was really, really, lost, and sometimes the symptoms of 
that aren't pretty.  Hopefully the Lord will eventually guide her toward 
something resembling civility and normality.  Seriously, she needs prayers 
as much as any of us, because she must have absolutely no peace or balance 
in her life whatsoever, and I hate to say it, but somewhat like that strikes 
me as potentially quite dangerous.  Just my opinion.

Mark Tardif
Nuclear arms will not hold you.
-----Original Message----- 
From: James Kelm
Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 6:33 PM
To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] an awkward experience

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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