Sunday April 3, 2011

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

I have decided that I don't like this story as a metaphor for spiritual blindness that makes us unable to see others' suffering or realize that our actions/opinions are hurting others or that we could/should be closer to God. There's something about that metaphor that's just not right and it niggles at me. Having heard not only the homily today but the doctrinal session this evening, I had time to figure out what it was. Because that's not a bad lesson or anything but there's this:

People who are blind know that they are blind. People who are spiritually blind do not. As was said like ten thousand times today (it felt like), spiritual blindness means you don't even know that you're going around being a jerk. [It's not the point I'm making now, but I have always wondered - don't you? Deep down? Don't you know, really, if you are honest with yourself?]

And since Jesus said that you were not in sin when you were blind, this story is essentially us giving ourselves a pass for not being vigilant in our attitudes and treatment of other people. We have to be shown the error of our ways, have or eyes opened. But we could see all the time. We don't get the same pass for insisting on going around with our eyes closed.

Everyone knew he was blind, he knew he was blind. He was prevented from following Jesus by his blindness, from being a pillar of his community, from working to help others. The equivalent here would be not being physical capable of helping others. Not being too blissfully ignorant of their plight to be responsible for helping them.

I think it is our responsibility to purge our prejudices and bad assumptions. How is a question I don't know how to answer. Perhaps the Little Black Book's ideas about having a guiding, steady set of moral principles is right - take those true, deep down principles and honestly apply them to each situation. If our baseline is to love the Lord, our God, with all of our heart and soul and to love our neighbors as ourselves, then what does that say of the way we treat that jerk in our playwriting class? What does it say of how we react to Tea Party nonsense? Do we judge and dismiss, back away from someone who makes us uncomfortable?

We were blind. But that's just it - we weren't. We were just going around with our eyes closed or being too stubborn to get spectacles.

I'm sure there is an appropriate metaphor in there somewhere that I am rejecting baby-with-the-bath-water style, but I think we're giving ourselves passes on some important choices. Because we were blind, we were waiting for God to cure our blindness. When we were always capable of opening our eyes.

Dear Lord, help me to know when I am blinding myself, when I am refusing to be Your servant as You have called me to do. Help me find the way to keep myself from falling into ways that keep me from You. Open my eyes, Lord, and help me to know how to keep them peeled.