THE CENTERPIECE

January, 2003

Pittsburgh Lutheran Center for the Blind

535 North Neville Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15213

412-682-1800, Bob Mates, Director

The CENTERPIECE is a monthly publication of the Pittsburgh Lutheran Center for the Blind Terri Watson, Editor

The Pittsburgh Lutheran Center for the Blind seeks to reach out to the blind of Pittsburgh, feeling their needs and touching them with the love of Jesus so that they can reach out to and touch others with the love of Jesus.

FROM THE EDITOR

December 20th, 2002.

Several weeks ago while riding home from church with a friend, we began discussing how hard it can sometimes be to recognize God at work in our lives. As an example of this, my friend related the following story:

During a flood, firefighters knocked on a man's door and said, "you have to evacuate because the flood waters are getting dangerously high." "That's okay", the man said. "God will save me." As creeks and streams became more swollen and overflowed their banks, rescuers returned to the man's house. His house was so filled with water by then that the man was forced upstairs. "Sir, you have to evacuate," a rescue worker shouted over the storm. "We have a boat here to get you out." "No," the man stated emphatically. "I don't need to evacuate because God will save me." Unable to convince him, emergency workers reluctantly left. Finally, floodwaters reached the second floor and the strong-willed man was forced out onto his roof. A third time emergency personnel approached the man's house and pleaded with him to evacuate, explaining that a helicopter was on standby. Determined as ever, the man remained adamant. "I will not leave because I know that God will save me!" Soon after this last rescue attempt, the man drowned. Upon entering heaven, the man, filled with disappointment, asked God, "Why didn't you save me?" And the Lord replied, "I tried to save you. I sent you the firefighters who knocked on your door; the boat to evacuate you from the second floor, and the helicopter to rescue you from the roof. And each time you refused to leave."

"How often are we like the man in this story," I wondered as I wrote. Since our lives are God's work in progress, how often does He provide what we truly need, yet we somehow fail to recognize God's hand in our lives. Matthew puts beautifully the loving care that God gives us when he says, "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"--Matthew 6:26 As we begin the two-thousand-third year after our Savior's birth and the beginning of our redemption, may we strive always to discern God's will and recognize God's work.

As we begin this New Year, may our hearts and our homes remain committed to receiving Christ with hospitality, thanksgiving, and praise! Blessings,

Terri Watson

ALL SNOWED OUT?

On Friday, December 13th, 2002, the weather forecast called for three to six inches of snow. Bob Mates as the center's director felt it best to cancel the Christmas party scheduled for the following day. Although the forecasters were proven wrong, directors are definitely duty-bound to make those difficult decisions. (How's that for lots of D words all in a row?) Big THANK YOU'D to everyone who was willing to help with the planned celebration.

PERSONAL PROFILES

As promised in December's CENTERPIECE, the editor conducted the following interview with Vicky Vaughan, the center's computer teacher:

Question: as many people who read CENTERPIECE know, you're currently teaching computer classes at the Lutheran Center. What was it that first sparked your interest in computers?

,answer: when I went to the American Council of the Blind convention in Philadelphia and toured the exhibits, hearing the speech synthesizers and screen readers was really fascinating. Being in college, I saw just how much could be done with this. (1984 is when I went to the ACB convention.)

Question: Computer access technology has often been very expensive, especially since there is such a limited market for it. Does that mean you had very limited computer access when you were in Pitt's Library Science Master's Degree program?

Answer:

Well, let's put it this way: They were willing to buy a touch screen and window bridge. However, I really struggled because I was really quite new to the Windows concept. When I became an intern at Hillman library, someone from Blindness and visual Services, flew someone from Oregon to make the computer accessible. Doing this was expensive, though: Just the speech program cost $1'000. This guy's help was really worth it, though, because other agencies that had tried either sent staff who threw up their hands after a few hours or made what had been accessible inaccessible. Though things were being done to achieve accessibility, CD Roms were still not accessible simply because they were on a different unit and were not being tied to the mainframe.

At the 1986 Council of the Blind convention, I went ahead and purchased my first screen reader which was Vert Plus. (This was both a synthesizer and a screen reader.) This was when I first learned about scanners and I bought my first scanner the next year. Question: Some of the things that make you such a good teacher are your ability and willingness to personalize each class to the student's needs and interests. How difficult is it to do this?

Answer:

It's certainly more time consuming to personalize each class. I do have some generalized lesson plans, though, for basic sequential things like moving through a document, creating folders, and moving files into folders. I teach a student the quickest way to do something. Initially, I started teaching at the Lutheran Center as a volunteer. but after eighteen months, when the grant the Center was expecting hadn't yet come in, I had to put my foot down and began charging an affordable price, especially compared to what most places charge which can be as much as $70 a lesson. I went from twenty-one students to three which was a downside to charging, but I also felt that if each person paid something (in this case $5) the student would take the lessons more seriously. (The Lutheran Center's grant, which finally did come through, pays $15 toward each lesson.) Going back to what sparked my interest, as a library student, I was part of an advisory group to help libraries assess what they needed to do to make the equipment accessible. Also, unlike the instruction for Jaws and Windows, I don't do soup to nuts

teaching but instead teach in a way that combines the essentials of both Windows and Jaws. Question: What computer skills do most people want to

learn: For example, are more people interested in E-mail and Internet access than they are, say, in word processing?

Answer:

Mostly I would say it's :-mail and Internet but it is really helpful to know how to write a letter, how to format it and how to manage files.

Question: Many of us who are blind or visually impaired know that seventy-five percent of us are either unemployed or underemployed. Would you say that no matter what a person's career choice is, computer skills are a must?

Answer:

Yes, because I don't think a sighted person would really take a blind person seriously who didn't know anything about computers.

Question: If someone reading this article thinks, "You know, maybe I really should consider taking a computer class, how can that person enroll?

Answer:

A person could call either Bob Mates or Vicky Vaughan: Bob is 412-682-1800 and Vicky is 412-682-6552.

Question: Is there anything I may have forgotten that you'd like to share about yourself?

,answer: Any of my students are free to call me if they're involved in something or don't understand something. (This is usually people who have computers at home.) I also try to teach people how to get to the Lutheran Center or the closest library.

(The editor sincerely thanks Vicky for taking the time to be interviewed and also for sharing her computer expertise.) (Sherri Crum will be featured in February's Personal Profiles.) If you would like to be featured in a future issue of CENTERPIECE, please feel free to call Bob Mates at 412-682-1800.

YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION

By Bob Mates

Do you make New Year's resolutions? If you do, you're not alone. Seemingly, everyone makes them, only to break them! People resolve to lose weight, to work harder, to relax more, to spend less money, or, as a last resort, not to make any New Year's resolutions! As I said, people are quick to make, and just as quick to break, these resolutions. The reason for this is that, while these resolutions are commendable things to strive for, they're either so hard to do, or so distasteful, that the resolver soon loses interest in carrying out the mission. However, if you absolutely insist on making a New Year's resolution, allow me to suggest one that you can not only make, but also keep! Very simply, you resolve to live according to the will of God. How do we do this? How do we know what the will of God is? We find it out by studying God's Word, the Bible.

The Bible is many things. First, it is the logos, or the Written word of God. It tells the story of God's relationship with man, from creation, to the fall, (that is, the entering of sin into the world through Adam), to man's redemption, through Jesus Christ, the second Adam. (As Scripture says, through the first Adam sin and death came into the world; through Jesus, the second Adam, came redemption and life.) Along with the afore-mentioned functions, it also gives us the principles that God would have us live by. These are not a series of "Thou shalts." Or "Thou shalt Nots.", but are teachings, scattered throughout the Scriptures. It's more than the Ten Commandments; more than the Golden Rule; more than loving the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind, and your neighbor as yourself. It's a whole world view; a whole, unique way of looking at the world, and at life itself. As we study His Word, we learn these principles. As we learn the principles, we learn to apply them in our daily lives. As we apply them, our lives change, and we begin to really understand what God's will is in our lives. Why do we want to live in god's will? Well, for one thing, it sure beats living outside of it! For another, we do it for the same reason we wanted to obey our parents. We obeyed our parents, because we loved them, and hopefully, we knew they loved us. Well, the Bible is right, when it says that we love God, because He first loved us, in that He sent His Son to die for us! So, there you have it: the perfect New Year's resolution! It's a lot more fun than giving up sweets, and, if you do it, you may even find yourself more able to do the other stuff, such as not losing your temper, or not worrying so much! Want to try it? Okay! Here's a short prayer that you can pray every day. It's straight from the Bible, too. "Yet, not my will, but Thine." HAPPY NEW YEAR! Amen.

BIBLE BITS

The following questions are followed immediately by the answers and their biblical references: 1. In the second chapter of his Letter to the Philippians, what does Paul say about Christ's name? 2. As many of you know, Philippians is the book which Bob Mates is helping Bible class participants study. Name three other letters Paul wrote. 3. When the Pharisees and the Sadducees come to the Jordan to be baptized, what does John the Baptist say to them? 4. John the Baptist tells the crowds who come to be baptized that "he baptizes with water for repentance" (Matthew 11:11)! What does John say about how Jesus will baptize those who will come to him?

5. To what church did Paul write the longest letter?

ANSWERS:

1. In the second chapter of his letter to the Philippians, Paul says: "Christ has the name above every other name" (Philippians 2:9). 2. In addition to the Philippians, Paul also wrote letters to the Corinthians, Colossians, and Ephesians. (Paul also wrote to the Galatians, Hebrews, Romans, Thessalonians, Timothy and Titus.) 3. The following verses from Matthew's Gospel clearly show just how angry John the Baptist was when the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to be

baptized:

"But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee the wrath to come?" (Matthew 7:7-8) 4. Continuing with Matthew's Gospel, John the Baptist contrasted his methods of baptism with those of Christ's as follows: "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matthew 11:11.) 5. Although many of Saint Paul's letters are long, he wrote his longest one to the Romans (Romans has sixteen chapters). (The Scripture verses cited above were taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Copyright 1989.)

FOR THOSE WHO PROCLAIM GOD'S WORD

"A Guide to Pronouncing Biblical Names" is a new Braille publication from the Lutheran Braille Workers, Inc. Although Braille is currently the only format in which this book is available, a large print version is coming soon. This book is especially useful to anyone who reads at Sunday services because it explains how to pronounce 3,000 names of biblical people and places. For information (including cost, if any), contact the Lutheran Braille Workers, Inc.; P.O. Box 5000; Yucaipa, CA 92399. You can also phone them at 1-909-795-8977. (The above item appeared in the January-February 2003 issue of The Xavier Review, a bimonthly newsletter from the Xavier Society for the Blind.)"

A LITTLE HUMOR, VERY LITTLE

Johnny stayed home from church with a sitter. When the family returned home, they were carrying several palm branches. The boy asked what they were for. "People held them over Jesus' head as he walked by," his older brother explained. "Wouldn't you know it," the boy fumed. "The one Sunday I don't go, He showed up!"

One Easter Sunday morning as the minister was preaching the children's sermon, he reached into his bag of props and pulled out an egg. He pointed at the egg and asked the children, "What's in here?" "I know", a little boy exclaimed. "Pantyhose!"

The prospective father-in-law asked, "Young man, can you support a family?" The surprised groom-to-be replied, "Well, no. I was just planning to support your daughter. The rest of you will have to fend for yourselves."

Little Johnny asked his grandpa how old he was. Grandpa answered, "39 and holding." Johnny thought for a moment, and then said, "And how old would you be if you let go?"

As Mom was preparing pancakes for her sons, Johnny, 5, and Alex, 3, the boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. The Mom saw the opportunity to teach a moral lesson. She said, "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'" Johnny quickly turned to his younger brother and said, "Okay, Alex, you be Jesus!"

A little boy in church for the first time watched as the ushers passed the offering plates. When they came near his pew, the boy said loudly, "Don't pay for me Daddy. I'm under five."

The Sunday School teacher asked, "Now, Johnny, tell me, do you say prayers before eating?" "No sir," he replied, "We don't have to. My Mom is a good cook!"

My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you & God are alike? " I mentally polished my halo while I asked, "No how are we alike? " "You're both old, " he replied.

A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments. They were ready to discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was Susie raised her hand, stood tall, and quoted, "Thou shall not take the covers off thy neighbor's wife."

LUTHERAN CENTER WEBSITE

ABOUT LUTHERANS FOR LIFE

Lutherans for Life is an organization whose mission is to educate society on God's position on the sanctity of human life. On a practical level, Lutherans for Life also provides financial support to pregnancy care centers--facilities, which provide emotional support, guidance and material assistance to women, and girls who find themselves in unexpected pregnancies. For more information, or to join the Pittsburgh chapter of Lutherans for Life, call the church's main number: 412-683-4121. Tribute to a

Peacemaker

A Poem by Terri Watson

He treated the poison of prejudice

with perseverance and the power of prayer.

He responded to foul balls of hatred

with home runs of love and peace.

He overcame mountains of segregation

with persistence and a soul that dared to dream.

He cleared trails to the mountaintop of equality

with the unflinching courage of a warrior.

He completed his earthly journey

with a legacy of justice and a life not lived in vain!

(The above poem is a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.),

PRAYER REQUESTS

1. A friend who recently had a breast cancer scare learned, after additional testing, that she does not have cancer. Thank You, Lord, for your infinite kindness, goodness and mercy! 2. For a nineteen-month-old girl who has brain cancer: that the radiation she is receiving will shrink her tumor so that it can be safely removed. 3. For a friend and the professionals working with her to seek your guidance in a housing decision. 4. For a job interview that Terri Watson is having on Friday, January 3rd to go well. 5. For the emotional, financial and spiritual well-being of Kathy Susany's many friends but especially for S, M and E. 6. For Dee Wilson: That the moles she has been having removed will be cancer-free.

7. For Judy Goldman's husband Lou who had heart bypass surgery a week before

Christmas: May his recovery at home continue.

8. We thank God that Sherri Crum's niece is recovering from a blood clot and we pray for her continued recovery. 9. For Karen Good and her Father, Alton Zuber: For Karen's safe trip to Texas to be with her father who is terminally ill with lung cancer. May God comfort Karen, her family and her father during this sad time. 10. Thanks be to God for sending His Son "that we might have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS

Happy Birthday to Louis Smith, Danny Thomas and everyone involved with the center that has a January birthday.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

GUIDE DOG USERS GROUP:

First Thursday of each month

11:30 A.M. to 1:00 P.m.

PRAYER SERVICE

First Thursday of each month

1:00 to 1:30 p.m.

BIBLE STUDY

First and Third Thursday of each month

1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

LIFE GROUP: (Living in Faith and Encouragement)

If re-convened, will meet on Wednesdays

5:00 to 6:00

MONTHLY MEAL

Last Saturday of the month

5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

MONTHLY PRE-MEAL BIBLE STUDY

Last Saturday of the month

4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

NOTE: OTHER EVENTS WILL BE ADDED AS SCHEDULED. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL BOB MATES at (412) 682-1800.)