[Blindtlk] an awkward experience

Wed Oct 9 01:54:46 UTC 2013

Awesome!

-----Original Message----- 
From: Brandon Olivares
Sent: Tuesday, October 8, 2013 4:57 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
> _______________________________________________
> blindtlk mailing list
> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> blindtlk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/blind411%40verizon.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindtlk mailing list
> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> blindtlk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/pkt52%40aol.com
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindtlk mailing list
> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> blindtlk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/jameskelm%40earthlink.net
>
>
>
> 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
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindtlk mailing list
> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> blindtlk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/programmer2188%40gmail.com

_______________________________________________
blindtlk mailing list
blindtlk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
blindtlk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/jtj1%40cableone.net 