Identifying Blind Spots

The gospel story for this Sunday from John 9 tackles some different kinds of blindness, including spiritual blindness. It made me think that our Lenten journey is a good time to consider our own blind spots.

Jesus heals a man blind from birth by putting mud mixed with His own saliva on the man’s eyes and having him wash in the pool of Siloam. The Pharisees believe that blindness is a punishment for sin, but can’t believe in Jesus’ ability to heal. The man can’t help but share this miracle and ends up interrogated, along with his parents, by Pharisees who eventually “drive him out”, unwilling and unable to accept his story. The man told the truth and was punished for it. But in the end, he got the inside scoop on exactly who Jesus was and worshiped Him.

This week I don’t have a tidy set of points to consider when we look in the mirror and are challenged to see our own blindness. It is counter-cultural to accept and welcome all people with differing abilities and appearances and to embrace their stories and experiences of God and Jesus. I’ve had people share many things with me over the years. Some I had trouble swallowing as happening exactly how they told me, but at very least I tried to listen for God speaking through their situation and to learn something from them.

This past week I encountered two girls, both with special needs, at two different times. Despite their apparent challenges, they were incredibly happy and full of love. Pure joy emanated from them and I was offered hugs from both. Both showed me more acceptance and grace than many adults. I believe God is shining through them in ways unique to them and their story.

If I had been in a Pharisaical frame of mind, I might have avoided them, felt pity for them and their families, perhaps been concerned for why God would allow kids with such challenges and wondered whether there had been any in-utero choices by the parents that affected the foetus. If I had labelled and written them off based on their appearance and behaviour, I would have missed the uplifting interactions I had and the chance to hear from their moms about how much of a gift these girls are.

Where I was able to be open to these girls, I admit that I need to keep alert to my own blindness in other situations. We all have blind spots, and because we are blind, we usually don’t know the extent of what we don’t know. When we assume our interpretations are right and the only ones, then why would we consider that we may be missing something? As Jesus said, it’s so much easier to take the speck out of our neighbour’s eye while missing the log in our own.

How do we figure out our blind spots? Watch for narrowness of focus and insisting on a single interpretation of scripture that can’t be reconsidered or a single way of approaching different ministries and challenges to maintain the status quo. Watch for prejudices and pre-judging of people and situations without knowing those involved or hearing their hearts and seeing God in them. Watch for unwillingness to engage with someone else or other groups for any reason rather than showing hospitality and welcome. Watch for a belief that we can determine the work of the Messiah and can question the Good News others share with us.    

How do we maintain clear eyesight? By increasing our self-awareness and going a step beyond knowing what we think and believe to looking at our actions and assumptions and beliefs critically. Do they tie in with scripture and the gospel message? Do they honour God and the dignity of others? Do they move us towards goodness, discipleship, growth and hospitality, or towards protectionism, fear, distrust and anxiety? Are the voices we hear around us, and which we trust, drawing us closer to or further away from God’s love in their messages?

Our blindness distorts our understanding. I have worn glasses since grade 9. Any time I decide to not wear them, things are blurry and I’m tentative, like I’m in a fog. It’s important that we choose the right lens to get our perspective through. Prayer and actively seeking God’s viewpoint will help to maintain that right way of looking at the world around us. May we all take the time to refocus and bring our awareness into our ministries with people of all ages, open to what God may be trying to show us through the gifts God has given them.