[Faith-talk] Prayer and Blindness

Tue Feb 3 14:00:36 UTC 2015

I’ve had several people ask to pray for me. To the point where I had a group of about eight people come into my apartment, some speaking in tongues, and all prayin over my eyes. It was very creepy, went on for an hour, and then I was told that I must not have enough faith because I wasn’t healed immediately. It was just a little disturbing. I also have had people lay hands on me in Walmart and outside of a college dining hall, barely having the courtesy to ask first. Thankfully, the church I attend does not do this sort of thing.

Aleeha Dudley and Seeing Eye Dog Dallas 
Vice President, Ohio Association of Guide Dog Users 
Vice President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 
Both proud divisions of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio 
Email: blindcowgirl1993 at gmail.com <mailto:blindcowgirl1993 at gmail.com> 
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. 
“The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse’s ears.” - Arabian proverb 

> On Feb 2, 2015, at 10:25 PM, Christine Olivares via Faith-talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> Greg, I completely agree with you and I do exactly the same thing. There were some visiting evangelists in my hone town this past summer, and they had a sign on the corner of one of the busiest streets that said, “Beep if you love jesus!” or something to that degree. Well that made it really hard to cross the street because it was hard to hear traffic and the audible signal, so the guy helped me across. Then I asked his name and what he was doing, we struck up a conversation, and from that conversation he realized I was a christian open to healing and what not. Only then did he pray for me. He didn’t try after helping me across; he was about to let me walk away but I thought I would talk to him first. That shows real politeness.
> 
> God bless,
> christine
>> On Feb 2, 2015, at 10:13 PM, Poppa Bear via Faith-talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> You made a lot of very good  points. I hope that some of us can gleam from this wisdom. 
>> Thanks for sharing
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Faith-talk [mailto:faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org <mailto:faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org>] On Behalf Of Greg Aikens via Faith-talk
>> Sent: Monday, February 02, 2015 5:15 PM
>> To: Sheila Leigland; Faith-talk, for the discussion of faith and religion
>> Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] Prayer and Blindness
>> 
>> I have grown up in Pentecostal/charismatic churches that put a large emphasis on physical healing. Sometimes it can feel a little dehumanizing when people I don’t know come up and ask to pray for my blindness because I feel like all they see about me is that I am blind. They reduce my identity to that one characteristic, a characteristic that only represents a part of who I am. I particularly feel this way when there is little or no effort to get to know me and no interest in what I might need prayer for. I feel like I have been reduced to an object in need of fixing, sympathy, etc. It’s rarely that overt, but I have felt that way sometimes.
>> 
>> As a result, I make an effort to make every encounter like that a humanizing one. I make sure I learn the person’s name and something about them so that it is not a one-way conversation. If they ask to pray for my eyes, I tell them they can but then I’ll often suggest something that I really want prayer for too. “Could you pray for this situation at work, guidance in some decision, etc.” I find those kind of encounters far more satisfying and uplifting. If I’m in public, I don’t always say yes. 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Jan 31, 2015, at 4:33 PM, Sheila Leigland via Faith-talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> agreed that is not good at all.
>>> On 1/23/2015 10:23 AM, Linda Mentink via Faith-talk wrote:
>>>> That's wacked. Blindness is not demon-related. Those who think so give Satan way too much credit! Those are the same ones who say he gives them colds and other illnesses. They don't know their Bibles, nor do they really know their Lord.
>>>> 
>>>> Blessings,
>>>> 
>>>> Linda
>>>> 
>>>> At 11:09 AM 1/23/2015, you wrote:
>>>>> Hi I have had faith healers come up to me while i'm out running errands sometime and they want to pray for me and they put their hands over my eyes. They ask God to "cast this demon out of me. After they're done, I tel them that with perpoer training and alternative techniques, blindness is just a physical neusance. Sometimes they get it and sometimes they dont.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I also had one person tell me that since my parents sinned , that's why i'm blind and I'm part devil!
>>>>> 
>>>>> After they left I asked God to protect me and to tell the devil to go away!
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
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