Sight
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
Psalm 119:105
I just walked through my very dark house. Leaving one room, I turned out the light only to realize that there were no other lights on between there and my destination. I felt quite disoriented and a little guilty for teasing my poor son who walked into the corner over our wall several years ago. As I made my way, slowly and inch by invisible inch, I thought of my Aunt Carol, who is blind. She is now totally blind but there were years when she had some shadowy sight. Think of it as if I’d had a nightlight around the corner toward where I was headed. It occurred to me, not for the first time, that I’d rather have always been blind, than to have had sight, even a glimmer of sight and lose it. Understand, I hate the thought of being blind. My heart breaks for Aunt Carol who cannot see her great nieces and nephews, who has to navigate around a room rather than just walk. The compromises are endless for her because she cannot see. Walking through the dark room and hallway, I was taken again by how amazingly well my aunt lives and gets around. She lives alone and pretty much takes care of herself, having become accustomed to and contented with her lack of physical sight. In that moment the spiritual correlation hit. “I was blind but now I see.” (John 9:25)
Many years of my life were spent in spiritual darkness or blindness. I had no interest in spiritual sight. It was my foolish belief that I was doing fine on my own. (A quick look at some of my choices during that time will show you how errant that thought was.) Then one day I felt it, the darkness, the lack of vision and I wanted to see. God in His amazing mercy granted me sight. I can say with the man in the Gospel of John, I was blind but now I see. Moreover I could see clearly, certainly clearly enough to know that I had a lot to learn. Today I still have a lot to learn and I believe that my vision is clear but there have been moments and days when that vision has been blurred or obscured by some lesser thing.
Unlike physical sight I have some control over my spiritual vision. In Scripture Jesus promises us that if we seek him, we will find him. The clarity of my spiritual eyes depends on where I’m looking and what I am looking for. Making my way through the room through the house this morning I wished I’d left a light on somewhere. There was total darkness. In a house, that’s not good but spiritually speaking the man in darkness is actually better off than the one with a mild, blurry vision. (Revelation 3:16)
God, in His infinite mercy and love, granted me sight over thirty years ago. In those years I have taken that vision for granted far too often. Today I was reminded that His Word is the light to my path. If that light remains in me my stumbles and falls should be few and far between.
and a light to my path.
Psalm 119:105
I just walked through my very dark house. Leaving one room, I turned out the light only to realize that there were no other lights on between there and my destination. I felt quite disoriented and a little guilty for teasing my poor son who walked into the corner over our wall several years ago. As I made my way, slowly and inch by invisible inch, I thought of my Aunt Carol, who is blind. She is now totally blind but there were years when she had some shadowy sight. Think of it as if I’d had a nightlight around the corner toward where I was headed. It occurred to me, not for the first time, that I’d rather have always been blind, than to have had sight, even a glimmer of sight and lose it. Understand, I hate the thought of being blind. My heart breaks for Aunt Carol who cannot see her great nieces and nephews, who has to navigate around a room rather than just walk. The compromises are endless for her because she cannot see. Walking through the dark room and hallway, I was taken again by how amazingly well my aunt lives and gets around. She lives alone and pretty much takes care of herself, having become accustomed to and contented with her lack of physical sight. In that moment the spiritual correlation hit. “I was blind but now I see.” (John 9:25)
Many years of my life were spent in spiritual darkness or blindness. I had no interest in spiritual sight. It was my foolish belief that I was doing fine on my own. (A quick look at some of my choices during that time will show you how errant that thought was.) Then one day I felt it, the darkness, the lack of vision and I wanted to see. God in His amazing mercy granted me sight. I can say with the man in the Gospel of John, I was blind but now I see. Moreover I could see clearly, certainly clearly enough to know that I had a lot to learn. Today I still have a lot to learn and I believe that my vision is clear but there have been moments and days when that vision has been blurred or obscured by some lesser thing.
Unlike physical sight I have some control over my spiritual vision. In Scripture Jesus promises us that if we seek him, we will find him. The clarity of my spiritual eyes depends on where I’m looking and what I am looking for. Making my way through the room through the house this morning I wished I’d left a light on somewhere. There was total darkness. In a house, that’s not good but spiritually speaking the man in darkness is actually better off than the one with a mild, blurry vision. (Revelation 3:16)
God, in His infinite mercy and love, granted me sight over thirty years ago. In those years I have taken that vision for granted far too often. Today I was reminded that His Word is the light to my path. If that light remains in me my stumbles and falls should be few and far between.
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