Technology is a Friendly Helper

 Technology should be used to its full advantage.  We can keep our calendars on our phones, we can text and email and call.  We can read the Bible and all sorts of books from a platform where it is simple to enlarge text, change the spacing, change the contrast, and turn into audio.  I am greatful to live in a time of computers, iPads, iPhones, tablets, and Kindles.   When people say technology is a terrible invention that has created isolation, I agree with certain sides of the argument but I also see the sun from the opposite side.  With the invention of technology came the adaptive side which made typical, everyday duties a lot easier for individuals with disabilities.
       One of the most amazing pieces of adaptive technology by far is the computer professor Stephen Hawking uses to write and communicate.  Swiftkey and Intel teamed up with Stephen Hawking to design a computer that he powers with his one working cheek muscle to write and talk.  That is just one example; there are so many more adaptive technologies.  Just the accessibility features on Apple products are fabulous.
       If I hadn't been born in this day and age, this blog wouldn't exist.  The intelligence of many who have disabilities would probably go unnoticed.  Lives of many would be significantly more difficult

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Love Your Flocks

Woe flock towards people who treat us nicely, often duplicating the affection.  We flock towards people who like us, often liking them as well.  But that's how friendship works.  That is how bonds are made.  We often don't flock towards people who are different because they are different…

       Lately I've been feeling lie an outsider.  More mature than my peers and still physically a teenager.  I know more about where my spirituality is than most teens my age.  I have been through more medical thîngs.  Yet, I try to never judge because I do not know everyone's story. 

       Judging is what we as human beings do unintentionally.  We naturally have biases, but as good people we don't mean to offend, hurt, or judge. 

        We should flock towards the crowd, expand our horizons, and try to be social butterflies.  Treat others how you want to be treated.  There is a whole world of people we should love, so let's get on that. 

1 Peter 4:8New Living Translation (NLT)

8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.

John 13:34-35English Standard Version (ESV)

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Proverbs 27:23English Standard Version (ESV)

23 Know well the condition of your flocks,
    and give attention to your herds,

Equal Rights

The world is corrupt.  Social justice system, equality, LGBT rights, religious right, m, etc, etc.…  Can we not just agree to disagree?

       Let me let you in on a little secret; the world will never be equal.  Our skin tones will always be different, our sexuality, our abilities and disabilities, and personally I don't think the world should be equal otherwise we are going to bring back Hitler.  A little diversity is good.  The thing that needs to be changed however is opportunity. 

       We should all have equal opportunities!  Did you know that a school fight in a poorer niehborhood"s school results in arrest?  Did you know that young people are tried as adults and prison population consists of African Americans and Mexicans?  Do you know parents are afraid to raise their children?

       It shouldn't matter the color of your skin, if your poor or rich, if you have a disability, we should all have equal opportunity.  We are all persons!

John 13:16New Living Translation (NLT)

16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message.

Peter Singer on Killing Disabled Newborns

Peter Singer is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University.  In an April 16 radio interview Singer made the case that it is "ethical" to deny severely disabled newborns medical treatment during their first year of life.  He stated that through Obamacare this is already happening and that we should accept that this is happening.  Singer says that this occurs, sometimes not because of costs but because doctors want to refrain from putting a burden on the parents.  .
     
       "If an infant is born with a massive hemorrhage in the brain that means it will be so severely disabled that if the infant lives it will never even be able to recognize its mother, it won’t be able to interact with any other human being, it will just lie there in the bed and you could feed it but that’s all that will happen, doctors will turn off the respirator that is keeping that infant alive.  I don’t know whether they are influenced by reducing costs. Probably they are just influenced by the fact that this will be a terrible burden for the parents to look after, and there will be no quality of life for the child. So we are already taking steps that quite knowingly and intentionally are ending the lives of severely disabled infants. And I think we ought to be more open in recognizing that this happens." - Singer
        
        What gives Singer the right to decide quality of life?  Anyway he believe personhood doesn't start at birth, and only starts when you have awareness of yourself in place and time.  But, how do we know baby's aren't aware? 
       I will leave you with this:  My mother owned a group home when I was a little and all the children there had pretty severe cognitive disabilities, but they were happier than most of us.  Also, I am no burden to my parents and though it is sometimes hard we get through it. 

       

It Is Okay; We Are Only Human

You are worrying, are stressing, are overwhelming yourself.  The vibe is not good and it is contagious, but you can't help it.  You can not stop thinking about what triggered your moodiness.  Maybe you think nothing triggered it.  Maybe there was a trigger, maybe there wasn't -- I can't tell you; I don't know your mind.  The vibe is contagious, though, so let me hug your soul with the words that flow through my mind to stop the spread.
       I am not going to say "stop", as I have in past blog posts.  We are not supposed stress, worry, and overwhelm yet it is human to feel this way.  We are not robots and unlike robots we go through crap that almost always comes with emotional drama.  But, remember, we were designed to live; to trudge through the muddy mess of life so that we can enjoy the green pastures that are always around us.
       You are strong, you are intelligent, you are kind, you are helpful, and you can handle whatever is coming your way or in your path!  I believe in you!  God believes in you!

Revelation 21:4New Living Translation (NLT)

4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Deuteronomy 31:6English Standard Version (ESV)

6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”