Blindness
Imagine for a moment that you could get anything you asked for.
As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet; but they shouted even more loudly, ‘Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!’ Jesus stood still and called them, saying, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, let our eyes be opened.’ Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him. - Matthew 20:29-34
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus gives the blind men a chance to ask for what they want, and their choice was to have their eyes opened.
This passage could be viewed as a metaphor. All of us are blind and need our eyes opened, but unlike the blind men in the story, we may not know we are blind. And if we don't know, we would never ask.
We can be blinded by many things. Our prejudices can keep us from seeing the truth about others, just as our fears can keep us in darkness.
The blind men in the reading shout out loudly to get Jesus' attention because they know they are blind, and they desperately want to see.
Imagine if all of us had such a yearning for the truth, to see with clear, unhindered vision.
But first we must accept that we don't see everything clearly, that our vision is flawed, and that may be hard to deal with, especially if we believe we know the truth and others have a problem.
Maybe if we asked for the ability to see the way others see, we would get a different perspective. It may not change our views, but it could help us see more clearly.
More to come...