The Irony of Jericho

How curious that Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind, where I was forced to go from 1964 to 1970, was located above Jericho Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the biblical Jericho, Jesus healed a blind man. Some three-thousand years later, sight-impaired children were sent to a school called Jericho.

We read in Mark 10:46 (BBE) of this man and how he was healed completely. "And they came to Jericho: and when he was going out of Jericho, with his disciples and a great number of people, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind man, was seated by the wayside, with his hand out for money."

The modern-day place where I was sent for six lonely years wasn't named after Jericho of old but for Jeremiah Rogers. He was a lumber man who had a camp in that area during the 1860s. Jerry's Cove, as the beach was called, soon had its name corrupted into Jericho and the name stuck.

I remember how we used to love the spiritual song about Joshua fighting the battle of Jericho. How we wished we could have Joshua rescue us, burn down the school, and take us to our homes. Our music teacher doubtless wondered why we sung that song with such earnestness.

And Just as we cursed our Jericho, Joshua cursed that city in his time. Joshua 6:26 (BBE) relates, "Then Joshua gave the people orders with an oath, saying, 'Let that man be cursed before the Lord who puts his hand to the building up of this town: with the loss of his first son will he put the first stone of it in place, and with the loss of his youngest son he will put up its doors."

Jericho of old was rebuilt, just as Joshua said. We read in 1 Kings 16:34 (BBE) that, "In his days Hiel made Jericho; he put its base in position at the price of Abiram, his oldest son, and he put its doors in place at the price of his youngest son Segub; even as the Lord had said by Joshua, the son of Nun."

And though some blind folks decry the lack of braille lessons being taught to visually-impaired children in public schools, I'm glad that Jericho was closed in 1992. Three-hundred deaf students and alumni filed a class action suit against the British Columbia government because of sexual molestation which happened in the school for decades.

As far as I know, no children died as a result of the new Jericho School for the Deaf which was built in the neighbouring city of Burnaby, I suspect that more attention is paid to the children and their situation.

I wrote my second memoir, Deliverance from Jericho, about the time I served at that institution and what it was like being there. You can order print copies directly from me through Messenger or by e-mailing me directly.

On Saturday, I'll be posting about the time of the school year which all kids look forward to. I had a special fondness for the end of June because I knew I'd be home for nine wonderful weeks of freedom from supervisors and bullies.

Saturday Song: Chillowack, "Lonesome Mary"

I'm so glad that society is recognizing the devastating effect which chronic depression has on people. While we all get the blues from time to time, clinical depression renders its victims unable to do much of anything. Even feeding and dressing oneself can feel like too big a chore.

Chillowack, a band from a town in British Columbia with the same name, sang about a depressed woman back in 1971. Even she didn't know why she wept all the time.

Here "Lonesome Marry" here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVLqaGNJ2wE

Even in biblical times, people suffered from depression. The psalms are filled with anguished cries to God. As David wrote in Psalms 42:5 (KJV), "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance."

Some Scripture writers had valid reasons to fear and feel downcast. Jeremiah 4:19 (KJV) says, "My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my  very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace,  because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the  alarm of war."

Whatever causes us to feel depressed, we can rest our minds on the truth that God cares for us. Even when the entire world seems to be going sideways, our Lord is still in charge.

So, what do you think of the song and what I wrote? Please leave me your opinion below. But if you'd rather not, have a fun weekend.

On Monday, I'll examine the fact that making something clean dirties something else. Think about it.

FORTY-FIVE YEARS OUT OF JERICHO

Have you ever left some place and not realized you'd never return? It can be either a sad or happy memory, depending on how that place was for you. In my case, I wish I'd known I'd be leaving Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind for the final time.

On this day in 1970, my classmates and I felt jubilant that we'd finally be going home. Many of the boys in my dorm lived hundreds of miles away from Vancouver, British Columbia and were anxious to leave that wretched place.

We packed our suitcases and lugged them to the parking lot when the school bus arrived. Apart from some of my things falling out of a shopping bag on the bus, the trip to the airport was uneventful.

For the next two years, I dreaded being sent back to Jericho because some bureaucrat thought I wasn't adjusting well to public school. Labouring under this apprehension, I worked hard to get good grades and prayed often to be spared being exiled to Vancouver again.

When the two years had passed, I suddenly realized that I couldn't be sent back to Jericho. I was registered in high school and was living on my own. Had somebody tried to send me back, I think I'd have refused. Anyway, when I realized the fact that I'd never be sent to Jericho again, I danced a jig in my room. What a relief that was!

I did well enough in high school, though I never went to university. I had been burdened with homework and people told me University was even harder. Tuition also intimidated me since I lacked the money.

My work experience hasn't been noteworthy but I managed to stay off welfare for most of my life. I'm on disability now but I worked hard for my pension. Furthermore, I've written three memoirs and many freelance articles. Read more about my paperbacks at the Bruce Atchison's books page as well as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's Books.

MEMORIES OF DESIREE

Have you ever noticed the way interrelated things tend to cluster together at times in your life? It certainly happens to me quite often. I'll hear of the same Bible verse being discussed by two or more unrelated pastors or radio preachers. Sometimes I'll be thinking of a song and then I hear it on the radio. Usually these coincidences are unremarkable. I forget them after a while because they didn't make much of an impression on me.

Not so with one of those coincidences back in June of 1970. Neil Diamond released a great tune called "Desiree." It received quite a lot of airplay on the Vancouver radio stations which I tuned in. If I remember correctly, KJR in Seattle also played it often. What struck me most about the song is that I heard it on the third of June. The coincidence of Neil writing about that date and me hearing the song that day stuck in my mind.

At the same time, Strawberry Alarm Clock released a song called "Desiree." I didn't recognize the band as they sounded so different from there "Incense And Peppermints" hit back in 1967. Even so, the fact that two unrelated songs should have the same title also made an impression on me.

Furthermore, I'd never heard of anybody named Desiree. The name sounded exotic. It also sounded like a nice name. That too helped impress the songs and the time of year on my mind.

Rock music has played a big part in my life. Ever since the arrival of The Beatles on the North American scene in 1964, I've loved that style of music.

But there were people in charge of me at the school for the blind who hated it. I was told that it was bad music and I ought to be listening to classical compositions.

I was rebuked by Christian elders as well once I was mainstreamed into the public school system. The leaders of the house church I attended called it satanic and even warned that I might be possessed by a demon if I listened to it. Nothing of the sort happened. In fact, the music I loved from the sixties and seventies is now considered classic rock. You can even hear it played over the public address systems in malls and grocery stores. Perhaps we'll even hear both Desiree songs played someday.

I wrote about the static I received regarding my love of Rock music in my second and third memoirs. Please check them out at my Bruce Atchison's books page as well as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's Books.