Behind Jericho - by Bruce Atchison

Deliverance from Jericho is my memoir of how I ended up in a residential school for deaf and blind children. For six lonely years, my parents sent me five-hundred miles from my home in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta for months at a stretch.

Because I lived so far away from Vancouver, British Columbia, I was only allowed to return home during Christmas and summer. Additionally, my parents paid for the train tickets so I could visit for two Easters and the government paid for one Easter plane trip home.

These experiences scarred me deeply. For decades, even the mention of Jericho Hill School made me depressed.  I also suffered from bad dreams about being back there.

But thanks to a radio show called Hope in the Night, I learned how to deal with the traumas of my past. The host, June Hunt, told me that I could hand over the pain and those bad memories to Christ and he would heal my soul. Furthermore, she said I would have to keep on doing this as those bad thoughts would surface over and over for a while.

Thanks to this technique, I felt ready to write about my experiences a few years later. Doing so gave me the ability to release any claim I had on being a victim of that injustice. It also helped me explain to others what I went through.

Better still, our Lord experienced far worse injustices so he can identify with us. Hebrews 12:2 (KJV) says we should be, "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

We know too that a day will come when our sorrows will be no more. Revelation 21:4 (KJV) assures us of this. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

I should add that June Hunt's method is based on the scriptures. We read in 1 Peter 5:7 (KJV) that we should be "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."

How wonderful it is that our Lord and Master understands our grief. He truly cares for us in so many diverse ways. This is something the world will never experience apart from him.

When Life's School Will Be Out Forever - Bruce Atchison

June is a joyous time of year for school children. Summer vacation lies before them, offering a smorgasbord of fun and freedom. Walking out of school that final afternoon, children feel such joy and relief from the tedium of study.

When I was a child in the sixties, I had an additional reason to rejoice. Because educators wrongly assumed that I needed special teachers to educate me, I was sent five hundred miles from my home in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta to Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind in Vancouver. Being deprived of my family and all I loved for three or six months at a stretch made me yearn for summer in ways words can't adequately express.

Being home was like paradise to me. Instead of being woken by a dorm supervisor, I slept in my own bedroom until I felt like rising. Instead of eating institutional food, I ate meals lovingly prepared by my mom. Instead of being with strangers, I enjoyed the company of family members. Instead of going on occasional supervised outings like escorted prisoners, I roamed the town freely. Best of all, I was away from the school bully for eight wonderful weeks.

I look at our lives here in this world in much the same way that I once viewed my incarceration at Jericho. Jesus said in Matthew 24:32-33 (KJV), "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." Nobody knows when Christ will return but we can tell that this world is growing worse by the day. As my dorm mates and I waited eagerly at the end of june for the school bus driver to take us to the airport, we knew we would soon be out of that impersonal institution and back home where we belonged.

You can find out more about my Deliverance From Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School) memoir by clicking here. I also post excerpts of my writing here.

"God knows I'm good." - Bruce Atchison

No matter how good we think we are, we still have our sinful nature to contend with. We humans are skilled at making up excuses to justify our crimes, yet God sees through them all. Though David Bowie isn't a Christian, his song, "God Knows I'm Good," hits the nail on the head when it comes to how we figure the Lord will cut us a break when we sin. You can hear the song by clicking here.

I presumed I was basically a good boy back in 1968. Being at a distant institution for blind children, I began to chafe at my fifty-cent weekly allowance. I felt it was unfair that my parents didn't send me extra spending money and the supervisors at Jericho Hill School wouldn't spare an extra dime either.

Once or twice a week, the supervisors took us to a nearby grocery store run by an oriental gentleman. While wandering the isles, I noticed that the cake topping decorations were in a spot where the man couldn't see them from the till. "He'll never miss it if I took some," I thought as I pocketed a few while he was busy with a customer. I felt nervous as I walked out but nobody stopped me.

On subsequent trips, I grew bolder. I came to believe that I had a right to those treats, being so far from home and all. One evening, a package of chocolate sprinkles fell out of my pants pocket as I was about to leave the shop. The owner said nothing but his look spoke volumes. I sheepishly put back the package and never stole anything from a store to this day.

James 1:13-15 (B.B.E.) says, "Let no man say when he is tested, 'I am tested by God;' for it is not possible for God to be tested by evil, and he himself puts no man to such a test: But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire. Then when its time comes, desire gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is of full growth, gives birth to death." This is exactly how I became a shoplifter. Thanks to our heavenly Father, he forgave me when I gave my life to Christ a year later.