I am listening to a video…
Yes… A video. It’s playing in the background as I work on my computer. It is a video of the Gospel of John, in the New International Version translation. Actors are playing out the entire book, and I am listening. Not watching.
Imagine a blind person. If they pay any attention to a video it is always with their ear. Right?
The video narration is reading through John, and the actors are portraying the story. It’s Chapter 9. Jesus passes by a blind man and his disciples want to know who sinned that this blindness was caused. His parents? No one… He is blind so that the works of God should be displayed in him. He spits into some dirt and makes a mud salve, anointing the mans eyes. “Wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (John 9:7)
And the man was healed.
I listen to this while working with two sets of reading glasses. One for regular close up use, and other for my monitors which are nearly 3 feet away. Swapping glasses as needed. Eye appointments this month may be able to give me some bifocals to stop this problem, but I have gone through so many versions of glasses in order to see up close. (see the picture)
In fact, I’ve been known to leave these cheap bifocals laying around the house, my truck and the pulpit… Just in case I loose or break mine.
The older I get, the worse my up-close vision becomes that I cannot even see to take a speck of dirt out of the corner of my eye this morning. Imagine, taking my glasses off to cleanse my eyes and then putting my glasses on to see if the dirt was gone. Futility, this morning. I can’t cleanse my eyes without my glasses on, and my glasses are in the way of that speck of dirt.
This is the problem many of us have. We cannot see without aid, and that aid gets in the way of removing that which is offensive. We struggle with seeing, and when we can see we cannot reach the problem.
Yet, we want to reach out and fix your problem!
And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye. (Luke 6:41-42 NKJV)
Not necessarily a deep thought today… Unless you struggle with that speck of dirt in someone else’s eyes and don’t even see the vision problems you have yourself!
Then this is for you…