RADIO-RELATED STUFF

As much as he helped revitalize US AM radio, I am not sadder at the death of Art Bell.

Hey, Freedom Cheques, we know that other guy isn't on the phone; we can hear he's in the studio.

I hate that ford commercial with the teenager. First, if you want a teenager, get a teenager, not some adult trying to sound like a teenager. Second, there should be at least four teenagers in that spot, including at least a couple girls.

THE CANADA SUMMER JOBS PROGRAM DEBACLE

Back in 2016, the federal government offered to provide money so churches and other religious organizations could hire summer students to help these organizations out. Then, a scant two years later, the government said that, in order to qualify for funding, an organization could not oppose abortion, i.e. murdering babies in the womb.

Christians then contacted the government, the same people who implemented this agree-with-baby-killing policy in the first place, to change their minds. The issue was finally put to a vote in the House and the government did not back down.

This is what comes of partnering with the government. What did these churches think was going to happen?

We don't live in an age where people make it a priority to find a church when they move to a new town. Thus, so many churches are strapped for cash, with many even closing down.

If they'd reach the public in a manner that's relevant with the way most people live their lives these days, maybe they'd have the money to hire summer help.

CCB: APPARENTLY NOT MUCH BETTER THAN CNIB

Last summer, I was considering moving and was asking around about the best places in Ontario for blind people to live. I phoned the CCB, Canadian Counsel for the Blind, and was frankly disappointed with my interaction.

First, the woman who answered mainly seemed to be concerned about towns where I could easily get transportation to CCB meetings. I am not a joiner, first of all. Also, I don't see the good in joining a so-called advocacy organization for the blind as in order to advocate for a cause, you technically have to agree with and get along with people, which most blind people don't seem capable of doing.

Furthermore, I haven't heard, or been impacted by, one thing CCB has done for the blind, if they've actually done anything, so why would I want to join?

Also, this woman was a twit. She mentioned getting transportation to eye clinics, and was surprised when I told her my eye condition, retinopathy of prematurity, doesn't require eye doctor visits.

Also, when I suggested Bradford as a town to which to move, she said Bradford didn't have public transit. I spoke to my aunt who lives there and she says Bradford does have public transit, even a service that goes down to Toronto.

Will blind people ever get a holistic Canadian organization that actually does things to improve their lives?

CELA: NEW NAME, SAME CRUMMY SERVICE

About a year ago, I ordered three books from the CNIB Library. One came. I read it and sent it back. I called CELA back last fall and found out one of the other books had been removed from the system.

Yesterday, I called and found out, from the completely unfriendly woman I spoke to, that the third book had also been removed.

When I attempted to further inquire as to why this had happened and what CELA was planning to do about it, the woman replied the book had either been lost in the mail or destroyed and said, "It's unfortunate."

Now, let's go back to basic career training here, babe. If you're having problems at work or at home, you do not bring the feelings resulting from those problems into your interactions with the public. Got that!

Also, I expect better than to be dismissed the way you dismissed me. I want explanations as to what happened to those two books, as well as two other books I inquired into that had been removed, as well as whether or not, and when, you are going to re-transcribe the book into your system.

I'm telling you, CELA better hurry up and get the new system I posted about a few days ago in place before they lose their entire collection.

THE HOLY SPIRIT-THE KEY TO THE WHOLE THING

Lot's going on recently with the Lord leading the way. Over the spring School Break my wife, Sue, and I accompanied our two sons, Adam and Joshua, and Josh's wife, Angela, to Arizona. We saw the Lord show up "big time" when we ran into what I truly thought was an impossible situation. We flew from Detroit to Las Vegas Saturday night to get as inexpensive a flight as possible. We then rented a white Dodge Grand Caravan vehicle Sunday morning at the Las Vegas airport and drove more than four hours to Flagstaff, Arizona, where we had an airB&B place rented.

Our first full day of sightseeing was Monday and we drove an hour south of Flagstaff to a place called Sedona. Adam and Josh rented high-end mountain bikes. (They are both expert riders.) While they took off on their mountain bikes, Sue, Angela and I went hiking for several hours. We agreed to meet back at the van around 4:00 p.m. Only my wife, Sue, and youngest son, Josh, had insurance to drive the van. Sue was the driver that first day we went to Sedona. Well, we all arrived back at the van around 4:00 p.m. only to discover that Sue had lost the only key for the van. (Although we were permitted two drivers, we were not issued two keys.) Sue had been carrying the key in a kind of combination money pouch/fanny pack strapped around her waist.

You've got to picture this. We're out in the middle of nowhere minimum one hour's drive from Flagstaff and more than four hours drive from the van rental place in Las Vegas. Furthermore, Sedona and the surrounding area were extremely busy with Spring Break tourists. So much so that all the parking lots near the various Sedona trails were positively jammed with vehicles. We ended up parking on the side of the road along with probably 75 to 100 other vehicles.

Now, I'm thinking we are really, really in a jam. We can't even unlock the van much less drive it. I got down on my hands and knees and began looking in the gravel around and under the van on the off chance Sue had dropped the key after locking the van. There was no key to be found. Then I started doing a search around the van covering an area approximately 25 feet in circumference. But there was still no key to be found and it's starting to get later and later. Sue did remember that she had gone to use a ladies' restroom near the end of our hike. Because there was no toilet paper, she opened her money pouch/fanny pack to get some Kleenex. Sue thought it was possible she might have lost the key in the restroom. So Adam and Angela start jogging back down the trail to the restroom.

I sat down on a rock. I must admit I was aware of God but I wasn't actually praying to Him about our predicament because I could not see any possible answer to our dilemma. After about five minutes, I look up from my seat on the rock and I watch Sue open the driver's side door of the van. This made no sense because the van had been locked up tight when we left it to go bike riding and hiking. Next, I see Sue open the sliding door on the driver's side of the van. Again, I'm completely mystified. I knew that door had been locked tight. About 15 seconds later a dark car pulled in behind our van. The front passenger's window goes down and a hand appears holding onto a key. Next, I hear a female voice say to my wife, Sue: "Did you lose your key?" Sue answers "Yes" and the key is placed in her hand. I then hear someone in the car say something about God. I went closer to the car and asked: "Are you Christians?" "Yes," answers the lady who had just given Sue the key. I then began to explain that I am an ordained pastor who serves the Lord as a chaplain and that we were also Christians. I had to crouch down even lower to be able to see that there was a man driving the car. As I peered into the car, I heard the man say, "We believe in being Spirit led."

For nearly seven or eight years now, I have really prayed a lot about me having a more intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. In fact, in the last year, I have pressed in even harder asking that I might truly know the Holy Spirit and that He would equip, enable and empower me. I often pray that the Holy Spirit will "lead me and feed me." There is literally nothing that man could have said that would have resonated more deeply with me than for him to mention the name of the Holy Spirit. It was so clear that God had intervened via his Holy Spirit to solve what to me was an impossible situation.

Here's what happened. The lady found our van key in the ladies' restroom. Then she and her husband began driving all around the various parking lots and along the roads lined with cars. The lady was pushing the lock release button on the key fob in hopes of identifying the vehicle the key belonged to. Because she had been pushing the lock release, that's why Sue had been able to suddenly open the two doors on the driver's side 10-15 seconds before the car pulled in behind our van. It's amazing that this couple would go to all that trouble instead of just taking the key to a ranger's station or perhaps a police station. However, the Spirit told them to drive around looking for the vehicle that fit the found key. Timing was everything. We could very easily still have been out on the biking/hiking trails when this couple drove by. But, God made sure we were there to connect with this Spirit-led Christian couple.

I tell you, I have seen the Lord do many amazing things in my 37 years of following Christ. But this incident with the van key in Sedona ranks right up there amongst the top three things I've had the unique privilege of watching the Lord do. It was highly significant that the lady placed the van key in my wife's hand because Sue was the one who was feeling awful about creating this impossible situation for all of us. And, secondly, it was highly significant that the man spoke those critical words: "We believe in being Spirit led."

God's grace and God's love were so evident. He did not abandon us at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. He did not leave us nor forsake us.

We began driving the van down the road in hopes of meeting up with Angela and Adam. Sue was concerned that they might go looking for the key on the maze of trails beyond the ladies' restroom. In fact, as we started down the road we met Angela and Adam jogging toward us. Angela and Adam could not figure out how we were able to drive the van when they realized it was us coming toward them. Amazing grace!

So that was our initial God-ordained adventure on our first day in Sedona, Arizona.

I hope you find this true story encouraging, Alex. God can and will do abundantly more than we can ever think or ask!

inHisname

Cousin Dave

CNIB STARTS PRODUCING INDIVIDUAL COPIES OF BRAILLE BOOKS

Received the following email from CELA, the Centre for Equitable Library Access, yesterday:

Dear CELA patron,

We are pleased to announce changes designed improve your braille service. Beginning in April, we will be embossing a fresh copy of each braille book we send. We will also begin mailing the books in boxes. You will no longer be required to mail the books or the packaging back. Instead, you may keep or recycle both. Books will be removed automatically from your account after 30 days. Please note these changes do not apply to printbraille children's books which must be returned.

We are making this change to provide more timely service to you, and to make our braille service more efficient. We will be able to offer as many copies of each book as needed, so you do not need to wait for others to return a book before you can  receive it. You will also be the only reader of each book and each copy you receive will be fresh.

The formatting of the books will be different. They will be split into parts of 100 pages each and staple-bound. Each part will generally be a bit smaller than the braille volumes we’ve sent in the past. There will be no plastic covers or binding, making them easy to recycle.

Newly transcribed books will be formatted as a single volume with continuous page numbers and the title will appear in the header as well as at the beginning of the book.

We hope you enjoy single-use braille. If you have any feedback or questions, please contact CELA at help@celalibrary.ca or call 1-855-655-2273.

Sincerely,

CELA staff

MEDIA-RELATED STUFF

My FM Napanee, how can you be the designated radio station for people to turn to in an emergency when you were off the air the other day during the high winds?

CBC, the death of those hockey players in Saskatchewan, as tragic as it is, is not something worth devoting an entire edition of your 6:00 newscast to. Add in some totally false Canadian boosterism from Ron Maclean and that was last night's "The World This Weekend", folks.

Even though the channel has gone digital, I can still pick up CJOH-TV's Deseronto transmitter on 87.75 fm.