Healing Our Blindness

Often we tend to look upon miracles such as the healing of the blind man in today’s gospel narrative as one of the greatest possible miracles. To our rational minds the possibility of such a far reaching healing may lie somewhere in the realm of fantasy. Yet a far greater blindness calls out for healing. It is a healing that demands perhaps even greater faith than a physical healing. It is a healing that must occur on multiple levels in order for our sight to be restored

In our times we suffer from the inability to see beyond the immediacy of our own limited experience of the world. Often the needs that we are most aware of are our own—we tend to focus narrowly on what concerns us individually or within the confines of a particular interest. We exhibit the symptoms of a lack of universal vision.

Undoubtedly there is a spiritual blindness that only the Master can touch, but even beyond our failure to clearly apprehend the depth of our personal spiritual need, even beyond the possibility of the false perception that everything is somehow right, there is a great need that goes unnoticed daily.

Sadly, on a global level we fail frequently at being able to see the need of our fellows. Similarly we may fail at perceiving from their viewpoint. We have gone far past the challenges to Christianity that began being most evident in the past century. However, I do not suggest that every viewpoint is valid or even that we should entertain certain positions. Rather, we are to learn to see with the eyes of others by putting their experience, their lived experience, to the litmus test of the depth of human suffering.

The time for great miracles has not passed at all. To the contrary the present holds the possibility for greater miracles than ever before. However, in order to reach the world with the message of Christ and with his power to make all things new, we must learn to see in such a way that we not only acknowledge the suffering of others, but that we learn to step into their reality in such a way that it reveals the depth of their need to us. Only then will we learn to end the suffering and evils of our times. Far from being a situation of hopelessness, global healing is a real possibility. The miracle begins with the healing of our blindness.

Comments

[C]

The nurse at work marvels when she gets a report of someone's upset stomach or chill or inability to sleep through the night. The resident will say, "There must be something wrong with me." She'll reply where they can't hear, "Uh, yes--you're 97! Your body has changed a bit!" It's a truly amazing country wherein even fairly well 97-year olds still expect the perfect health of a 37-yr. old.

And last night, the nurse was really miffed by one of our true complainers who thought maybe her new mattress was a bit too firm. We'd just been looking at photos and the story of some Africans living in a shanty town on the border of French oil fields set up in their land. These poor souls (paid slaves) -- people who are no different than us -- have no clean running water nor electricity, and there on the floor without benefit of any mattress slept a small child.

I had looked in a Prevention magazine which is further exploring the benefits of hoodia, and had I been of deepest ebony, I'd have turned bone white at one sentence, the one I didn't get past. "It has often been used in poorest parts of Africa as an appetite suppessant." Dear Jesus.. we are exploring it for the same reason, because we have too much to eat. I recalled reading of African men eating dirt to fool their bellies into thinking there's something in them.