Reading For the Blind Wasn’t Like This When I Did It

When I was college, several lifetimes ago, I was a DJ at the college radio station where I attended, WRKC-FM. WRKC aired a program from 10am to noon called the Radio Home Visitor. RHV as it is known is designed as an outreach to those who in Luzerne County, PA who are visually impaired. I was a reader on and off for the show for the 4 years I was at King’s College. RHV’s mission is to read the daily newspaper (a day late) emphasizing non-breaking stories. Weddings, funerals, birth announcements, Letters to the Editor are the staples of the program. The main purpose was to keep the visually impaired up on the types of news that just isn’t available from other sources, making sure that all of those everydaybits of information are available to them.

It is with this background that I read with interest the following story via NPR. “Just How It Sounds: Reading ‘Playboy’ To The Blind”.

By day, Suzi Hanks is a DJ at a classic radio station in Houston, Texas. It’s what she does after work that makes people’s ears blush.

Hanks volunteers with Taping for the Blind, an organization that makes audio recordings of popular books and magazines. When she started the gig three years ago, they put her to work reading pet publications.

What I found to be the most interesting part of the story is that Hanks actually describes the photos as part of the reading. While reading for the RHV I don’t remember describing all that many photos even if they went with the story. Of course, the photos that we had available for description wasn’t quite as interesting as those in Playboy.

Reading through some of the comments on the NPR site and Facebook page, it seems that there are some who object to Playboy being read for the visually impaired.  Although I don’t read Playboy, I really don’t have any objection to having it read. People with impairments and disabilities have sex lives as well. Their spouses have to be very special people because of some of the impediments that the disabilities can present. Why not?

If you do follow the link to the NPR story, do listen to the story. There are some edited samples of her describing the photos. It really does help to flesh out the story.

The Atheist Song

One of my favorite blogs is Matthew Paul Turner’s Jesus Needs New PR. There are times when he finds material that is just so great, so funny that it is worth passing along. Here is a Steve Martin video called “The Atheist’s Song- Firts Hymnal For Atheists

Thanks to Matthew Paul Turner.

I Know Porn When I See It

Very funny post at Jesus Needs New PR
Evidently, a male pastor at a church was offended when he was looking for men’s underwear at Walmart !
Alabama Pastor Calls Men’s Underwear at Walmart Pornographic.

Matt’s comments are the best!

Logic Fail

Found this on You Tube.

This young man is obviously copying someone’s preaching style as he elaborates on why he believes that the 1611 King James Bible is the only word of God. This is reason #3 in a series. His reason is a scripture verse that says that “God is not the author of confusion.” He repeats that phrase 7 times in one minute and twenty five seconds. He never states why other versions cause confusion, they just do.

He’s obviously very passionate about his feelings for the 1611 King James Bible. I wonder if he is as passionate about Jesus.

Would You Buy A Used Car From This Man?

Meet Pastor Steve Anderson, Soul Winner. Watch this video and learn the secrets of how to witness to the unsaved. Fortunate for Pastor Steve this victim potential convert didn’t ask any questions. This is NOT the way to present the Gospel. Notice he doesn’t ask the guy’s name until over 6 minutes into the video. He could’ve been selling a vacuum cleaner from his approach.

Life Verses

Here’s a trick question:

Who invented the idea of a personal mission statement?

• A) Peter Drucker
• B) Tom Peters
• C) An Obscure Evangelical Christian

If you guessed C, you’re correct!

Evangelical Christians love the idea of Life Verses. Life Verses are just like personal mission statements on they are Bible verses that reflect God’s Will for the individual.  Usually not long after conversion fellow Christians will ask the new convert if God has given them a life verse yet. Life verses are usually given after periods of reflection, struggle, or intense recruiting by a missions board.  The normal time to receive your life verse is during your daily quiet time with God. During this time God will direct you to a particular verse and inform you that’s your life’s verse. It’s important that you make note of your life’s verse, it will become part of your testimony. More on testimonies in another post.

You’ll notice that God will sometimes lead you to a commonly known verse. Say for a missionary candidate He might lead you to the Great Commission verses in Matthew:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Some, going off to higher education take on a verse like Proverbs 4:7

Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding

The second part of that verse could be a temporary life verse for the parents of the person going for higher education. Yes, you can have temporary life verses. God will supply them as they are needed, particularly during stressful times.

Life verses are supposed to be guiding and uplifting at the same time. Hence, The Ten Commandments are rarely used as a life verse. Although some people SHOULD use this verse as a life verse, they never do:

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

So, what do you do with your life verse. As I said before it becomes part of your personal testimony.Memorize your life verse so that you can bring it up often in conversations and during Bible study or small group meetings.Quoting your life verse often will remind fellow Christians that God has been leading you through your verse. You can also write your verse on a file card or two. One for your bathroom mirror, the other for your refrigerator. You can also use your life verse as a basis for your personal mission statement.

Things That Perplex Me

So, there’s one of these automatic paper towel dispensers in the Men’s Room where I work. Wave your hand and it dispenses a slightly less than adequate piece of paper towel for drying. It’s a pain since it waits several seconds to allow you another piece of paper towel. However, there are times that you will be in Men’s Room nowhere near the dispenser when it randomly dispenses on its own. Does it get lonely? Is it trying to make amends for all of the times that it fails to dispense on a timely basis? I’m not sure.

Then there’s the auto flush toilets that are found in almost any high traffic public toilet area. As you sit there doing your business, it suddenly flushes. Did I spend too much time? Does it assume that I’ve read through the first section of the newspaper? I’m not sure.

While Men’s Room appliances that appear to have a mind of their own may not be such a big deal, they still defy a level of sensibility. Both appliances work on the basis of motion, so what triggers them to work when there seems to be no motion? These things perplex me . They keep me up at night wondering about the nature of automated bathroom appliances.