Rabbi, I Want To See
by Barbara Thomas
Saturday, March 19th. Readings for today, Psalm 137, 144; Exodus 10:21-11:8; 2 Corinthians 4:13-18; Mark 10:46-52
(BCP Readings for today)
“Rabbi, I want to see,” said blind Bartimaeus to Jesus.
Our gift of sight, we so often take for granted. If our eyes need correction or improvement, we simply wear glasses or contacts, or have eye surgery. As we age, we become more aware that our eyes don’t see as well as they used to. We become aware that we need more light, and we think, it’s just another “sign” of aging, another “sign” of our mortality.
We are self-challenged, self-offended, and self-judged, as we occasionally encounter a blind person: self-challenged because we are aloof from the needs of others; self-offended because we don’t want to see the needs of others; and self-judged because we see our shallowness. Perhaps we give them a momentary thought as our hearts are being moved by compassion or feel pity for them, and yet we are very grateful that “we aren’t like them”. We usually think how sad that they can’t see the beauty of the world around them or that they can never see the faces of their loved ones. To have to be so dependent on others! How limiting! To have to be led by others! To have to be driven by others! Never to enjoy a movie or the freedom of running, or all the freedoms that sight brings to each of us.
We think that we see, yet there are many Scriptures that talk about darkness, our darkness. Darkness is used as a form of judgment. The enemy of our souls hides and works in darkness, our minds and hearts are darkened by sin and evil thoughts. But, God also hides Himself in darkness waiting to be sought after by us.
Jesus talked much about being spiritually blind. And we who were once in gross darkness not even knowing that we were blind, and now through Him, we have been redeemed and brought into His revealing, marvelous light. Now we see! Now we understand! Now we have compassion and understanding for those who are in natural and spiritual darkness. We need to remember that spiritual eyes can develop distortion issues and cataracts can form by our judgments on others, our lack of forgiveness, our coldness of heart, and our stubbornness to yield to the Holy Spirit convicting us from within.
May our hearts ever be soft and pliable in Your Hands. Open the eyes of our hearts, heavenly Father, that we might see as You see.
2 Corinthians 4:15-18 copied from the J.B. Phillips translation:
“We live a transitory life with our eyes on the life eternal. All this is indeed working out for your benefit, for as more grace is given to more and more people so will the thanksgiving to the glory of God be increased. This is the reason why we never lose heart. The outward man does indeed suffer wear and tear, but every day the inward man receives fresh strength. These little troubles (which are really so transitory) are winning for us a permanent, glorious and solid reward out of all proportion to our pain. For we are looking all the time not at the visible things but at the invisible. The visible things are transitory; it is the invisible things that are really permanent.”
And Jesus still asks us, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
And this blind woman says, “Lord, I want to see”
