Michael Black: "Don't Laugh at Me"

Thanks to my Kiwi friend, Maggie Rush, I know the perfect song to suit my blog. This is about disabled people and how normal children and adults mistreat them. Listen to this plea for tolerance here:

Holy Scripture certainly advocates for treating disabled folks with kindness. Leviticus 19:14 (Bible in Basic English) is but one example. "Do not put a curse on those who have no hearing, or put a cause of falling in the way of the blind, but keep the fear of your God before you: I am the Lord."

Another reason for being kind to disabled folks is in Exodus 4:11 (BBE). Moses didn't believe he was eloquent but God disagreed. "And the Lord said to him, 'Who has made man's mouth? who takes away a man's voice or hearing, or makes him seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?'" It's the Lord who decides what faculties we have or lack.

Inconsiderate and immature folks figure it's great fun to pull pranks on disabled people. But Deuteronomy 27:18 (BBE) admonishes, "Cursed is he by whom the blind are turned out of the way. And let all the people say, 'So be it.'"

Job 29:15 (BBE) models how able-bodied folks should act. "I was eyes to the blind, and feet to him who had no power of walking."

We, whom the Father has given the burden of disability, were mistreated throughout history. Mark 10:47 and 48 (BBE) shows how the public had contempt for one blind man. "And when it came to his ears that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he gave a cry, and said, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.' And some of them, turning in protest, gave him an order to be quiet: but he went on crying out all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me.'" Jesus did and the man saw.

Luke 14:12-14 (BBE) demonstrates Christ's care and concern for the disadvantaged. "And he said to the master of the house, 'When you give a feast, do not send for your friends and your brothers and your family or your neighbours who have wealth, for they may give a feast for you, and so you will get a reward. But when you give a feast, send for the poor and the blind and those who are broken in body: And you will have a blessing, because they will not be able to give you any payment, and you will get your reward when the upright come back from the dead.'"

If he who will bring our eternal reward hasn't come by Monday, I hope to post about God's persistence in the lives of sinners.

HOW CANADA POST'S CUTBACKS WILL EFFECT POOR AND DISABLED CITIZENS

Canada Post announced that in January 2014 that they will phase out door-to-door mail delivery in five years. Postage rates rose significantly as well. Why is this happening? The crown corporation's generous benefits and consequent pension liability has grown so big that these drastic measures had to be taken.

While I understand the need for fiscal responsibility, I also recognize the hardship this will bring on vulnerable members of society. For example, elderly people will have to walk to their local "Community Mailboxes." This isn't much of a problem during fine weather but Canadian winters are brutal across most of the country. Folks who use walkers , canes, and other mobility aids will have great difficulty in just receiving their mail. Many seniors aren't "computer-literate" so they depend on paper mail deliveries of letters and magazines.

People who use wheelchairs and motorized scooters are in the same predicament. These mobility aids weren't meant to plow through snow and maneuver along icy sidewalks. Disabled citizens will have to either wait for an able-bodied friend to help or stay indoors until they can leave their homes safely.

Though blind people learn how to navigate streets and sidewalks, snow and ice pose dangers to them. As fog is to a sighted individual, so is snow to the blind. Ice is doubly perilous when a person can't see it. I foresee news items about disabled people being hurt because they simply ventured out to the community mailboxes.

Doubtless some folks will say that those neighbourhoods which already have community mail boxes haven't had any problems like the ones I've outlined. Though I don't have the statistics, I certainly believe that these sort of accidents will rapidly increase as door-to-door mail service is phased out.

Remember as well that it's the bloated pension liability that is the major cause of Canada Post's losses. E-mail has cut drastically into the corporation's bottom line but people still rely upon businesses and friends to ship them parcels. Additionally, the many postal strikes and postage hikes have caused businesses as well as individuals to switch to online bill payments. The union and management are both at fault for this situation.

My hope is that Canada Post doesn't shut down rural mail service. I depend on that for sending out paperbacks and promotional materials.

Speaking of paperbacks, my How I Was Razed book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers. Visit these sites to learn about the marvelous way God delivered me from aberrant doctrines. My two previous memoirs are featured at the Bruce Atchison's Book page.