Thursday morning.
This morning when I leaped out of bed...okay, so I crawled to the edge
of my bed and sat in a groggy frump before Mother Nature reminded me
that I really should stagger to the bathroom. The second thing I do
most mornings is to check the temperature, both in and out. Some
folks like to check the time, but I am always interested in knowing
whether to shiver or break out in a sweat. This is one of those
differences between partners that can become an irritant. But even
though she thinks that this compulsion of mine borders on weird, Cathy
tolerates it without a whimper. Although I have overheard her telling
total strangers that the first sound in the morning is that woman
inside the thermometer shouting out the temperature.
But I digress.
What I've been thinking lately is if I could give just one gift to
each of our clients...older blind and low vision folk, I would present
them with the gift of curiosity.
Since our beginning back in 1995, we have provided assistance to well
over 3,000 older men and women, struggling to adjust to a life of low
or no vision. We've noticed that there are some people who seem to
pick up and go forward with their lives, while others mope.
While there are many factors that go into the differences between
them, other health factors probably heads the list, still, the one
difference in all of our clients, no matter the color of their skin,
their economic status, their religion or their place of birth, the one
thing every one of those who succeed, is this sense of curiosity.
Those lacking this sense never make a successful transition. They are
never happy. They often blame everyone from their children, their
spouses, other people or relatives they haven't seen in years, and
even God. They blame God! Naturally, having a dormant "Rescuer"
buried deep down inside me, I rise to the challenge, believing that I
can find a way to insert curiosity into their makeup. At first I
believed I was succeeding. After a visit or two, many clients went
forward and once again involved themselves in living a life filled
with rewarding activities. "Proof", I would gloat, "that we have
given this person a sense of curiosity".
But why then did so many clients fail to rise to this wonderful sense
of curiosity? We said the same words, provided the same services as
we did for those who we counted as success stories. Finally I came to
understand that those people who were successfully taking up their
lives again, already had that curiosity component. What we did was to
help speed up the transition from the sighted world to that one of
blindness. Wandering back through the past 22 years, I can not come
up with a single example of a person who had sunk to the depths of
depression, and our services set in place the curiosity that would
assist them in reaching out and finding new meaning for their lives.
I have to tell you, it is very difficult facing the fact that I am not
a magical God, able to leap tall buildings...and plant the gift of
curiosity in everyone I meet.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/3/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> Carl,
>
> Yes, I had understood all of those things about you except, perhaps, the
> importance of your giving up climbing the career ladder, even though you
> have mentioned this in previous posts. You've experienced a lot of growth
> and change, something that most people haven't.
>
> Miriam
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org
> [mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
> Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2017 1:03 AM
> To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
> Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: (no subject)
>
> Miriam,
> First, thank you for what I am taking as Kind Words. But when I talk about
> changing my beliefs, it's sort of like the Climate Change debate. You need
> to see the 82 year overview to get the sense of what I'm talking about.
> Just viewing me over a couple of years or so is not going to give a true
> picture.
> In my wild roller coaster life, I have been a sneaky chicken liver, a born
> again Bible thumping True Believer, speaking in tongues and being Baptized
> in the Holy Spirit, and after a ten year Religious Adventure I became a
> Backslider. During those first years of entering the Land of the Blind, I
> once again returned to that Missionary fervor, leading the charge against
> oppressive state agencies, and proclaiming Truth as told to us by Jacobus
> tenBroek...and yes, by the great showman himself, Kenneth Jernigan.
> That same absolute certainty that I represented Truth, brought me into Rehab
> work. Really, I set out to turn every new blind person into little carbon
> copies of Kenneth Jernigan.
> And then I went through my Bureaucrat period. I still paid lip service to
> the NFB, but turned my attention on climbing up the ladder of success, at
> least as successful as government agency work is concerned.
> Again, something in me snapped after I became assistant director for field
> services, at the Department of Services for the Blind. I think that was my
> Agnostic equivalent to the Christian's "Come to Jesus"
> experience. For the first time in my life I turned my focus inward.
> It was ugly in there. I had spent a life time avoiding looking inward. And
> it showed. It's taken me about 30 years to get some sense inside my head,
> but I really do alter my opinions and discard old out of date beliefs. And
> yes, I really do enjoy kicking back with friends, and just pass the time in
> idle chatter. I married an introvert. That might sound as if it were not a
> good thing for a full blown extrovert, but Cathy keeps me from jumping off
> the tracks and crashing. We're a good team.
> Did I mention that it reached 90 degrees today? We have so few days, or hot
> spells, that most folks don't own AC. We open all the sliders, crank open
> the windows and plug in two powerful fans. The past couple of days have
> been hot and smokey. A heavy smoke fog that irritates the nose. Up the
> Coast in British Columbia, the world is on fire.
> Since the heat is building from the South, it makes no sense that the heavy
> smoke to our North, would drift down here.
> Having tramped around in the heavy underbrush, over rugged bumpy terrain on
> the western slopes of the Cascades and in the Olympics, I have nothing but
> respect for the young men and women who put their lives on the line to fight
> these monsters. It is hard and dangerous work. Isn't it interesting that
> we don't much care who any of these fire fighters voted for.
>
> Carl Jarvis
>
>
>
>
> On 8/2/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>> Carl,
>>
>> If you keep changing your mind, it isn't apparent. I mean, your basic
>> positions seem to remain the same. Maybe you change your mind about
>> whether or not to vote for a Democratic political candidate, and
>> certainly, over many years, you changed the basic philosophical stance
>> you had. But for as long as I've known you on this list, it's been
>> pretty easy to predict what positions you would take. You are very
>> gentle in how you disagree with people so you almost never alienate
>> anyone or make them angry. You don't become emotionally invested in
>> the debates we have which is good for your health and keeps everyone
>> calm, well on this list, anyway. And I guess you enjoy communicating with
>> others, just for the pleasure of communicating.
>> But of course, a lot of people are much more emotionally invested in
>> the debates they have on lists and in the positions they hold.
>>
>> Miriam
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org
>> [mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
>> Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2017 9:44 PM
>> To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
>> Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: (no subject)
>>
>> True enough, Miriam. I'm guilty as charged, but I don't have an answer.
>> Hopefully I can become better skilled in explaining my opinions and
>> beliefs so I am simply extending my views without offending anyone...did I
>> say that?
>> Maybe what I should be attempting to do is to express my beliefs and
>> opinions in a way to challenge the curiosity of others. Of course
>> that is a most difficult thing to do.
>> We have packed so much emotion onto certain words, it is impossible to
>> use them without bringing down the roof. When I say that I am an
>> Agnostic, even Atheists jump on my back because, "You don't have the
>> backbone to take a stand". When I say that Man Created God to serve
>> Man's purposes, emotions flare.
>> People...many people, do not want their deep beliefs challenged. So
>> they defend by attacking. I spent some effort, even knowing that it
>> was a Fool's Errand, discussing my beliefs with Mostafa. That is,
>> Mostafa sends out his articles, and I respond with my thoughts. He
>> has never replied, but he does continue to keep me on his distribution
>> list. Since I return my opinions to his entire list, I suspect others
>> are reading what I write. But maybe not, since none of them reply.
>> At least not to me.
>> But I think my point is that I do not get my own self emotionally
>> involved.
>> I really do not believe that anything I say to this list is going to
>> make folks sit up and say, "Wow! This Carl Jarvis is sure some great
>> mind!"
>> Since I change my mind, or alter my position on many issues, the more
>> I read and think, I find that I have to go back and see what it was I
>> thought five years ago. Usually it is greatly altered.
>> I just can't understand why folks can't simply say, "Carl, I disagree
>> with your remarks on multipleverses," instead of saying, "Carl, you
>> big dumb piece of Shit! How did your mother ever give birth to such
>> an oversized, inflated ego?"
>>
>> Carl Jarvis
>>
>>
>> On 8/2/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>>> Yes, but you do keep posting messages about how misguided people are
>>> who have religious faith. So although you're not addressing anyone
>>> directly, people who are involved in a religion, are hearing over and
>>> over again how misguided they are. Over the last few days since this
>>> subject has come up, I keep thinking about Ted. Remember how angry
>>> and disgruntled he was when he left this list? Some of us, including
>>> me, were having these political arguments with him. Some list members
>>> were much more direct than I even was, attacking his positions very
>>> strongly. Ted had moderate political views, to the right of many of
>>> our's, but not way to the right. He left the list because he felt
>>> attacked and I remember that he said we were all, "leftist Marxists",
>>> which was certainly not the case. But what was obvious was that he
>>> felt alone and attacked on the list. All that arguing certainly
>>> didn't convince him to change his mind. It may have caused him to
>>> shift to the right. But whatever else it did, it caused him to feel
>>> rejected, and I'll never stop regretting what happened and that he left.
>>>
>>> Miriam
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org
>>> [mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Carl
>>> Jarvis
>>> Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2017 3:52 PM
>>> To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
>>> Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: (no subject)
>>>
>>> Abby,
>>> As an avowed Agnostic, I neither attempt to convert others, nor fret
>>> if others attempt to convert me.
>>> I mean, how does one convert another person to Nothing? I can see
>>> myself springing out from the doorway, into the face of some
>>> unsuspecting person, shouting, "Agnosticism sure loves you!" and,
>>> "Repent and let Nothing enter your heart!"
>>> Probably not going to convert too many.
>>> But at the same time, assuming some religious zealot leaps into my
>>> space and demands, "Repent and ask Jesus into your heart!" I simply
>>> answer, "I already did that. He entered into my heart months ago,
>>> and I've not seen hide nor hair of Him since."
>>> Yup, Agnosticism is like a big furry wrap around that protects you
>>> from everything and nothing at all.
>>> And it's light weight and never wrinkles!
>>>
>>> Carl Jarvis
>>>
>>> On 8/2/17, Abby Vincent <aevincent@ca.rr.com> wrote:
>>>> Roger,
>>>> I said God wasn't a part of your life. It didn't occur to me that
>>>> that would include unwelcome efforts to convert you. I have the
>>>> same problem. In recent times, my public appearances include a
>>>> wheelchair pusher to get me through malls and grocery stores. More
>>>> than once my assistant has had to answer to those accusing him of
>>>> not being attentive to my spiritual needs.
>>>> Interesting that Jesus told his disciples that blind people are not
>>>> being punished for their sins. I do find myself having much in
>>>> common with atheists, in particular, their wanting to keep religion
>>>> and government out of each other's way. Maybe some day an atheist
>>>> will notice the physical evidence of my spiritual status and welcome
>>>> me to the fold.
>>>> Abby
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Carl Jarvis [mailto:carjar82@gmail.com]
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2017 11:37 PM
>>>> To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
>>>> Cc: Abby Vincent <aevincent@ca.rr.com>
>>>> Subject: Re: (no subject)
>>>>
>>>> Discussing personal beliefs without becoming personally involved is
>>>> tough to do.
>>>> Still, I think most on this list are better at it than when I first
>>>> joined.
>>>> Or maybe it's me who has learned to accept criticism about my
>>>> Beliefs without taking personal affront. And yet, it does seem that
>>>> we all are better at it.
>>>> Each of us are a composite of everything that happened since the day
>>>> we were conceived. Any criticism of any piece of that composite can
>>>> be seen as a personal attack, or it can be taken as an opportunity
>>>> to open a discussion.
>>>> How we approach criticism determines whether it becomes a learning
>>>> experience or a pissing match. Of course we can be shouted down
>>>> with profane curses, but rather than become offended or angered to
>>>> the point of returning the curses in triplicate, good judgement
>>>> should tell us to simply end the contact.
>>>> Furthermore, telling me that I am stupid for believing the lies that
>>>> humans are causing climate change, is not an approach that will sway
>>>> my opinion.
>>>> Do I really care whether some nameless email calls me stupid?
>>>> There's nothing to be learned or discussed here. I'll simply delete
>>>> you and go forward believing my more learned sources of information.
>>>> If I am wrong, the planet will continue as it is. But if I'm right,
>>>> and we are contaminating Earth beyond its ability to cleanse itself,
>>>> then you will be destroyed along with all of us, and your name
>>>> calling will not save one single hair on your head.
>>>> But I digress.
>>>> We can explore ideas and learn from what others believe. Mostafa
>>>> has given me much information, mostly about the sort of person he
>>>> is, but also regarding his Faith. Of course, as an Agnostic, I
>>>> can't really enter into conversation regarding religion, but I certainly
>>>> can learn.
>>>> As a believer that we humans "created" all our multitude of Gods, I
>>>> would be disingenuous if I debated with Mostafa.
>>>> But I do believe it is fair to tell him why I cannot ever embrace
>>>> his "true"
>>>> faith. And I think that mostly, I have done this without putting
>>>> him down.
>>>> I do wonder if Humans can avoid extinction while believing that Our
>>>> God...whichever one we believe in, has absolute truth on his side,
>>>> making all other beliefs evil.
>>>> In my simple minded way, I truly believe that, "United we Stand:
>>>> Divided we fall". We are divided into little nations, each one
>>>> better than all others; little religions, each one better than all
>>>> others; little racial groups, each one better than all others. And
>>>> on and on and on. After thousands of years of this sort of
>>>> nonsense, how can we rise to a higher level, find the similarities
>>>> and teaching Peace and Respect instead of anger and hatred and
>>>> violence?
>>>> Our very existence depends upon our finding a way through to the
>>>> other side.
>>>>
>>>> Carl Jarvis
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 8/1/17, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@freelists.org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Ah but Abby, I am an atheist and religion is a part of my life. I
>>>>> would rather it not be, but theists have been beating me over the
>>>>> head with it all of my life. I have been screamed at on the street
>>>>> for going blind because I turned my back on Jesus. I have been
>>>>> followed around and preached at even though I politely told the
>>>>> harasser that I was not interested. For the most part these jerks
>>>>> have been Christian.
>>>>> In fact, I can say that in person no Muslim has ever tried to beat
>>>>> me over the head with his religion. But then, I have not known or
>>>>> encountered very many Muslims and of the few I have encountered I
>>>>> have been able to actually discuss their religion with them without
>>>>> their becoming hysterical like so many Christians have. On line,
>>>>> though, it is a bit different. A few years ago I was browsing Yahoo
>>>>> groups and came across an announce only group about the Quran. I
>>>>> was a bit curious and subscribed. It consisted of a daily quote
>>>>> from the Quran and a commentary on it. After a while my curiosity
>>>>> was satisfied and I unsubscribed. The next day I found myself
>>>>> subscribed again. After several attempts to leave the list I
>>>>> contacted the list owner. I did not hear back until I contacted him
>>>>> several more times.
>>>>> Finally I got a reply telling me that I must remain subscribed
>>>>> because he was trying to save me from the fire. Apparently he meant
>>>>> hell fire. Somehow I finally talked him into letting me go. Does
>>>>> this behavior sound familiar? Well, I am pretty sure that it was
>>>>> not Mustafa unless he uses another Arab pseudonym, but
>>>>> interestingly enough this person was also based in Egypt.
>>>>> With Mustafa doing basically the same thing I think I see a pattern
>>>>> developing. My main beef has always been with Christians, but it is
>>>>> apparent that if I was in a majority Muslim country they would
>>>>> behave the same way the Christians do and perhaps even worse. As
>>>>> much as I would like religion to not be a part of my life it is
>>>>> imposed on me anyway and I got fed up with it many years ago. I do
>>>>> not back down from them though. If they want to make fools of
>>>>> themselves I am glad to help them along. And that is why I have
>>>>> been engaging with Mustafa.
>>>>> I point out his logical fallacies just to point up how foolish he
>>>>> is making himself look. I also point out to him how hypocritical he
>>>>> is being when he complains about others being disrespectful to him.
>>>>> He is encouraging the disrespect by being disrespectful himself.
>>>>> And, by the way, when someone screams at a blind person on the
>>>>> street that god has struck him blind because he turned his back on
>>>>> Jesus then that person will probably experience some amount of
>>>>> disrespect too.
>>>>>
>>>>> On 8/1/2017 6:14 PM, Abby Vincent wrote:
>>>>>> Yes, and that's why I've been silent. My religious beliefs are
>>>>>> part of my identity, my culture. I choose not to defend them or
>>>>>> say why they are reasonable. This is true of other aspects of my
>>>>>> culture.
>>>>>> I once had a working class friend whose parents threw her out of
>>>>>> the house when she turned 18. She was offended by my father
>>>>>> continuing to send me money from beyond the grave.
>>>>>> I find it strange that some of you consider yourselves converts to
>>>>>> atheism. If you don't hold a belief in God, then God isn't a
>>>>>> part of your life, just like Valentines Day isn't a part of mine.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Abby
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org
>>>>>> [mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Bob
>>>>>> Evans
>>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2017 8:40 AM
>>>>>> To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
>>>>>> Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: [blind-democracy]
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I agree with you but I refuse your claim that I am disrespectful
>>>>>> toward Jews and Christians. I criticise ignorance of people not
>>>>>> their beliefs.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I hope you get this.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> You may add to your suggestions not to assume things about people
>>>>>> we don't know.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 8/1/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>>>>>>> Please everybody, take all personal attacks, arguments regarding
>>>>>>> religion, and posts from other lists, off Blind Democracy. I, and
>>>>>>> I'm sure other people, am skipping all emails with the name, Bob
>>>>>>> Evans, or Mustafa, and with any subject lines regarding religion.
>>>>>>> If Mustafa is disrespectful toward Christians and Jews, so are
>>>>>>> our non believing list members who feel impelled to repeat over
>>>>>>> and over again their reasons for thinking that religion is
>>>>>>> nonsense, and that all believers are stupid and ignorant. One's
>>>>>>> religious identity is part of one's personal identity. When, in
>>>>>>> the guise of intellectual discussion, you attack an individual's
>>>>>>> religious belief, it feels to that person like a personal
>>>>>>> attack. For people on the political left, who see themselves as
>>>>>>> defenders of humanity and civil liberties, these attacks on other
>>>>>>> people's beliefs are unforgiveable. And it is unnecessary to
>>>>>>> fight back with stronger or nastier language, when one feels
>>>>>>> attacked.
>>>>>>> That's precisely what Mr. Trump does. Sometimes, silence is the
>>>>>>> better part of valor.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Miriam
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
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