Tuesday April 5, 2011

John 9:6-7

"When Jesus had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, 'Go wash in the Pool of Siloam' (which means Sent). So the blind man went and washed, and came back able to see."

I have decided that I really like that Jesus didn't just wave his hands over the man born blind's eyes. It's probably related to why God didn't just wave His (probably metaphorical but what do I know) hand and forgive all of our sins or wipe away all of our misconceptions. We have to give our consent, we have to do some of the work.

This might relate back to what I said Sunday (I think it was Sunday, I think yesterday was kind of a mess), about the metaphor people kept going to for the man born blind wasn't really right because blindness is something you're aware of. Perhaps we're always aware, on one level or another, of our prejudices, but the way they kept talking about being spiritually blind was as if you just couldn't see that there was a whole world of Truth that you were missing. And I think the truer metaphor would be if you KNOW that there is a whole world of truth and you are missing. And then you can attack the barriers that are keeping you from it.

And, of course, we usually need help in that. We need God to do this first step for us most of the time - put the mud and His saliva on our eyes, mark the place where we know we should be able to see the world around us, to see God before our faces, and tell us where to go. Then the next step is up to us. We have to make the journey and do the work of getting to the pool and washing away everything that blocks our passage, that God marked for us accordingly.

If you've forgive me a long metaphor, I think it's the difference between the character Eustace in C.S. Lewis's Voyage of the Dawn Treader. That boy is a nasty little piece of work (not, like, compared to all the crappy kids in literature but certainly in comparison to the largely angelic Pevensies of the other books) and thoroughly refuses to see the new world of Narnia around him. He is blind to his own faults but mostly going around with his eyes firmly shut. He knows he's being stupid and making things harder on himself and he's choosing to not let go of his worldview in spite of that. That's spiritual blindness, but it's self-inflicted. And when he gets himself turned into a dragon (long story), that's God putting a Mark on him. So that he has to face his faults and the truth of the world around him. So he can't hide from it and sit down on the ground and pout. So that Eustace, like the blind man, has to go do something. And, eventually, that thing is revealed to be bathing in a pool as well.

I think in order to change us, God decided long ago, He would have to involve us. That He wouldn't just wave a metaphorical (again, it could be a literal one I wouldn't actually know) magic wand and make everything better. He would instead give us the opportunity to seek out change, and only then would He complete the miracle. Especially when it's not blindness so much as sitting in a pout refusing to open our eyes.

Dear Lord, help me to always hear Your call to change in my life. Please give me the chance to continually change for the better and grow in my relationship to You. Help me to realize where I am stubborn and blind and refusing to do the work in order to heal. Be with me and all of those who need You.