[Blindtlk] an awkward experience

Wed Oct 9 00:57:20 UTC 2013

I had a friend in college who often walked with me to class. One time some guy, he may have been a professor though neither of us quite knew, walked up to him and whispered in his ear, so that I would not hear it, something to the effect of, “How nice it is that you are doing this.” Implying that my friend was only doing it because I needed it, not because he was just my friend. Boiled both of our blood, but he was so shocked he couldn't say anything.

On Oct 8, 2013, at 8:51 PM, "Gloria Whipple" <glowhi at centurylink.net> wrote:

> Or another thing is, oh you poor thing, for being the way you are, you do
> such a good job getting around and taking care of yourself. I just want to
> cringe!
> 
> Gloria Whipple
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Brandon
> Olivares
> Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 17:43
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] an awkward experience
> 
> OH,I so know how being smothered is. When I was in college, I would be
> standing 3 feet from the elevator and be asked if I needed help getting
> there. It was well-intentioned, but still a bit too much.
> 
> On Oct 8, 2013, at 8:36 PM, "Gloria Whipple" <glowhi at centurylink.net> wrote:
> 
>> Hi Christine,
>> 
>> First, welcome!
>> 
>> My name is Gloria Whipple and I am Catholic.
>> 
>> I also had people try to pray over me and didn't really like it, and told
>> them so in a nice way. If God wants me to see, he will make it happen.
>> 
>> I am also happy with my adaptive technology.
>> 
>> I have some women in the church who try to smother me because of my
>> blindness. I try to tell them I can get along without them trying to
> smother
>> me. I think I got the point across without being snotty about it.
>> 
>> Again, welcome to the list.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Gloria Whipple
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Christine
>> Olivares
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 17:10
>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] an awkward experience
>> 
>> Hi everyone,
>> I just joined today, but my husband sent the experience you had, Michael.
> I
>> may have a different opinion than you guys do, but then again I haven't
> had
>> quite the same experience except for once. I was standing in line at
> Church
>> waiting to sit down, when this random guy came behind me and turned to my
>> left. All of a sudden I felt his left hand on my eyes. He said nothing,
> but
>> I new what he was doing. He should have asked me if he could have prayed
>> over me since I would have said of course.
>> 
>> I grew up in the Catholic charismatic Renewal, so I do believe in healing
> of
>> all kinds. I have been prayed over many many times for my miracle, and I
>> believe it will happen. My visual impairment is more medical since I have
>> congenital glaucoma and have to go for eye appointments and surgeries
> often.
>> 
>> If someone were to come up to me in a store, most likely I would accept
>> because I grew up with it. However, there must be some tact. I am not a
>> "poor child" because of my visual impairment, for it is just an
>> inconvenience. However, that doesn't mean I don't have hope for a miracle
>> someday. Until then, I use adaptive technology and am happy with it until
>> that day comes.
>> 
>> Michael, I am sorry for what happened to you. I think this person who
> prayed
>> for you should have been a little more tactful. At least she didn't touch
>> your eyes. :)
>> 
>> God bless,
>> Christine
>> On Oct 8, 2013, at 7:17 PM, "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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>>>> 
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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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>>> 
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