This song is one of my favorites. It came to my mind yesterday afternoon as Alex and I were sitting on our front porch. It seems that obese dudes hooked up to oxygen are quite humorous to some people. That's OK; I enjoy bringing laughter to others. But I really wish that they had not called me such degrading names.
You might be interested to know that the chap who wrote that song, Allen Shamblin, is a good friend of ours. It is such a wonderful thing that it has touched so very many people. Did you know it is a children's book now, too?
ReplyDeleteLabels & judgement. wish it were not human.
ReplyDelete((hugs))
As I have stood in my Women in Black vigil over the last few years, I have been flipped off more times than I can count and almost every Saturday, I'm called some horrific thing. At first, it made my heart beat faster and I felt hurt and indignant. Now, it's all just a passing show and I know that it has nothing to do with me. Some people will think that we are wonderful. Some will think that we are (fill in the blank). Others are just expressing their opinions in the moment and their opinions are none of my business. You, Nick, are a kind, big-hearted person, fine just as you are. I don't know what those dudes said (and it's nobody's business but theirs), but if I did, I know that none of it would ring true.
ReplyDeleteLong time since I've seen them.
ReplyDeleteI know you already know this, but try to remember (and it is hard when the situation is in one's face) that this is how some poor souls try to cover their own discomfort and ignorance.
ReplyDeleteCompassion is hard to learn when a person's life circumstances have dulled the senses, as those folks demonstrated. In spite of the physical challenges, Nick, you have compassion, and those of us who know you, IRL or in cyberspace, know that. Those who were crude and rude to you just can't understand how much better off you are than they.
How awfully rude some people are. Of course you are able to rise above it Nick being the compassionate person that you are - I'm afraid I would would have launched a counter attack. :(
ReplyDeleteMy best friend loves this song, she grew up with CP and has dealt with a lot of teasing and ridicule. Thanks for sharing this version of the song. I'll be showing it to her later.
ReplyDeleteNick thank you for posting this.I can relate to being made fun of and having rude remarks made about me.Having a seizure in public is never fun.it has brought my wife to tears at times,because of the stupidity of our fellow human beings(??).
ReplyDeleteNick, I too have been ridiculed in my life, but it came from someone that was suppose to love me, my mother. It has taken me years to overcome the pain from my childhood.
ReplyDeleteYou know those people are just rude and ignorant because if they knew you like we do, they would love everything about you.
Small minds talk about people...
Average minds talk about events...
And great minds talk about ideas.
You fall in the ideas group.
Peace and love,
Pam
Pamela Terry & Edward : It is a gran song! I have shared it and the words with several congregations in sermons. I once taught it to a group of children at a special needs camp. I believe the words can impact both the taunted and the taunters. Please pass on my thanks and blessings to Allen Shamblin.
ReplyDeleteXmichra: Yes. We humans find it very easy to judge and discount others. That is so much easier than getting to know the other or "walking a mile in their moccasins."
ReplyDeleteCarol: I can imagine the types of abuse hurled at you Women in Black. Likewise, I applaud what you are doing and how long you have been doing it.
ReplyDeleteAfter a while the taunts and insults sort of slide off of our toughened skin. Yesterday my sadness was not for myself but for the 2 dudes and the dudette across the street. I so wish that they had taken the opportunity to know me rather than just discount me. (Sigh)
James Higham: Peter, Paul, and Mary are my all-time favorite group. I'm listening to one of their CDs even at this moment.
ReplyDeleteLynilu: Yes, I suspect that the 20-something dudes were attempting to impress the dudette with their taunting. If they were, it is a great shame that they have nothing in their characters attract a mate. I feel compassion for them and sorrow for the dudette.
ReplyDeleteAkelamalu: It's strange, but I didn't even think about launching a counter attack. At one time not so very long ago I would have at least raised my middle finger to them.
ReplyDeletesilverneurotic: Please pass on my blessings to your best friend.
ReplyDeleteMike: I suppose that having a seizure anywhere isn't fun; in public it must be extra traumatic. That anyone who would use that as an opportunity to taunt or discount you is pure evil. I apologize, Mike, for the way human beings seem to side with evil all to often.
ReplyDeleteFinding Pam: Thank you. I, too, had a mother who said rude and degrading things to my sister and me. When we were children, they hurt. I did not know that all parents weren't like my mother; later I learned that her words came from her own insecurity and depression. I am thankful that now, at 85-years-old, she has overcome most of the urges to discount other people. (I still have to smile every once in a while when she reverts to her childish ways).
ReplyDelete