is this maybe baggage?
One of my very dearest friends in the whole world was a man named Al Eakes. He sat in a wheel chair for most of his life.
Up until the age of 19, Al was a totally "normal" human in the sense of having eyes that could see, ears that could hear, legs that could walk.
then he collapsed one day and his life changed forever.
He could still hear, see, think as clearly as you and me but there started a breakdown in his whole body that left him, literally, speechless by the time he died.
I don't think I can go on here..but I want to say to you all my friend, Al, said many things to me as he was dying.
He was viewed as a "handicapped person" who was not worthy of even being alive let alone "listened to"
Gene E..might I suggest, quite humbly, you read the works of Henri Nouwan.
Please take time also to read "In His Steps" if you haven't yet..it's not for me some kind of legalistic bondage here ..
anyway, I'm sorry.
Lectures are futile.
I hate lectures. God forbid I'd ever be reduced to using them as a means of proving at all the kind of love and passion I feel for Jesus and His Church..
God help us everyone.