[Faith-talk] blindness and faith issues question

Fri Dec 19 01:58:46 UTC 2014

amen linda. and as already stated, don’t shoot down the advice of god’s messengers. 
Timothy Clark Ministries 

  http://www.timothyclarkministries.blogspot.com

On Kislev 26, 5775 AM, at 20:24, Linda Mentink via Faith-talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hi Beth,
> 
> This is not a blindness issue, not really. It has nothing to do with your rights, either. The Bible says, along with not defiling the marriage bed (which you already said you don't plan to do), that we should abstain from all appearance of evil. If he stays with you, it will look like you are living together. Also, even though you have the best of intentions, you both will be tempted. That's why your pastor is concerned, and is showing you the Biblical way.
> 
> If you know someone you trust in that apartment building, another male or a couple, ask if he can stay with them, and offer to give them money for food if they need to feed him.
> 
> If not, then ask the church to give him a place to stay, and ask them to provide the necessary transportation to get Blake back and forth, or whatever you need.
> 
> I've been in your situation twice, so I know what I'm talking about. Best not to be tempted, and to obey the Bible, since you are a Christian. Your pastor is right on.
> 
> Blessings,
> 
> Linda
> 
> At 02:16 PM 12/17/2014, you wrote:
>> Dear List members,
>> I don't normally post here much, but I have a situation that calls for some blindness education, but it seems like all the blindness education is going nowhere.  I had a little phone conference with my church's pastor, Glynn, and he told me that all practicalities are trumped by the Bible's commandment for women and men not to sleep in the same apartment, no questions asked.  He didn't approach it in a nasty way, but I'm concerned.  Blake, my boyfriend from Arizona, is an alumni of the CCB.  He's coming over here to spend a week with me in Denver, but we've got the problem of the church saying he shouldn't sleep in my apartment.  Well, even if he didn't, the building I live in has some bad people in it.  Case in point, there was a guy so demented in the laundry room once that demanded I not touch his clothes, and I told him in a rather curt way that "I'm blind, I had no clue those were yours."
>> Because of this, I have an aversion to community laundry rooms.  A caregiver goes down and does my laundry for me.  Plus the machines are not ADA compliant.  Ugh.
>> But that's beside the point.  It  just proves that some males don't know how to take care of themselves in this building.  The other option the church gave me was to have Blake's mother with him on the trip.  Nope.
>> That's not possible, Blake wants to see me and only me, and his mom doesn't want to come.  Reasonably, I think this is fine since Kathy, the mother, does not have any motivation much to get up and go to exotic places or whatever.  All she is doing these days is working the studio.
>> She teaches tai kwon do.  Blake on the other hand is no longer active in the studio.
>> The church has also suggested that Blake live somewhere but not my apartment for the week.  I keep explaining that my apartment building is located near a bus line, the 9.  Glynn didn't seem to think this was ok though.  Blake and I have prepared for this moment, where the church people tell us not to stay in the apartment together.  Hey, we don't want to have sex or anything stupid, we just need places to sleep.
>> Where in the Bible would it justify Blake having to sleep somewhere else, outside the apartment's walls?
>> Then, Blake and I discussed Glynn's weird thoughts.  Blake suggests Glynn tour the CCB.  I plan to explain the situation a bit clearer to Glynn: Blind people must live near a bus or light rail, must have tactile microwave buttons which hotels don't have, must have a labeled and marked environment which a lot of hotels don't have, and more importantly, for Blake, must have someone his mother trusts. She doesn't trust all males in my building because she's never met them.  Kathy can't meet those people because she is not apt to going to Denver.
>> Kathy is a worried mother who lost her other son to a murder suicide, which I won't go into.  All I'll say is that it was the boy's sick girlfriend who killed him.  Kathy now knows I would NEVER kill her son.
>> Why would I!
>> Of course, Glynn tries to put his Biblical commands in the way of independence.  Where, I ask, does independence end and biblicality begin?  Where do my rights as a blind person end and the right of Christians begin?  Does Jesus know all this could take place?  He healed the blind, not taught them skills.  I also graduated the CCB, so skills are important.  I can travel, and from time to time, I take a bus downtown.  Not bad, you say, but with those resources, I can also get door to door transit via access a ride.  Blake needs to be able to take advantage of that transit.  So it looks easy to say and I conclude that Blake must stay here, but what do you guys think of this!  What do you guys say would be a solution to the problem? We understand that sex belongs in the context of marriage.  It is legitimate to think this way, and the bodies are from a fallen world, but I want a forward answer as to what we could do to solve the church and our problem?  What should Blake and I say to Glynn about the sleeping arrangements if they are brought up again? Should Glynn, the pastor, go on a tour of CCB and talk to staff about their lives as blind professionals?  Do you think as a Christian who is blind that there need to be modifications made to a lifestyle where cars are the norm?  Thanks in advance.
>> Beth
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