When it comes to being able to read anything smaller than one inch print without my glasses, I am “legally blind,” and even at one inch, those letters can still be blurry. Needless to say, with the amount of reading I do, my glasses are my constant companion. Those facts will underscore the sudden distress I felt the day before leaving for a conference at which I was to lead a workshop – and, no, I do not memorize my notes for teaching. I had just watered some plants that were attempting to grow in my front yard, and had used a leaky hose that managed to leave water drops all over my glasses. (Okay, besides being “legally blind,” I am also a klutz.) Nonetheless, I started to do the shirttail cleaning job when I went back into my kitchen. (Paper towels and napkins tend to scratch glasses. Scratches aren’t good either for the “legally blind.”) I gasped when I realized my glasses had fallen apart in my hands. Not good. By the way, although I do have an extra pair, they incur headaches that are also hard to teach with.
I couldn’t find the fix-it tool that seeing people use to fix glasses, and when I called my husband, he was sympathetic, but not all-knowing as to where the fix-it tool was. He suggested I go to the optical department at Sears where I regularly have my vision checked and purchase glasses as needed. Not what I really wanted to do on an already busy day. I was very thankful to find a friendly optician in an otherwise empty optical department. She too was sympathetic and repaired my glasses in a matter of minutes. I immediately exchanged the headache-ones for the pair she held out to me. Voila! I could see with distinct clarity! At that point, I would have been willing to pay any inordinate amount to compensate her for her services, but she insisted there was absolutely no charge.
Sight is a precious commodity. With mud, saliva, and the power and purposes of God, a beggar was given the sight he had never had. His healing astounded his neighbors, but it did not fit the theology of the Pharisees. They refused to believe the miracle, and reacted with intimidating scorn. In the end, some of the Pharisees confronted Jesus. Jesus’ interaction with them spoke to the fact that there is a blindness that is spiritual in nature. It is far more costly than physical blindness. As believers, we are given the gift of sight that helps us grow in our ability to see spiritual truth with distinct clarity. Seeing truth is the first step in appropriating truth. Seeing truth equips us, enables us, challenges us, comforts us, and draws us more deeply into our relationship with the Giver of spiritual sight. With broken glasses, I could still survive life.
Apart from spiritual sight, I would be absolutely destitute. I am truly thankful.
(Related Bible reading: John 9:1-41)
