Blind to the Blind

John’s Gospel tells the story of Jesus giving sight to the man who begged because he was born blind.  I wonder how old he was – the blind man, I mean.  I wonder how many years it had been that people went by him without seeing him because they justified his blindness.  Somebody sinned, either he or his parents.  He got what he earned.  The story is the second in a row (last week’s was the Samaritan Woman at the well) during which Jesus disciples have what a friend calls “DUH moments.”  Last Sunday they came to the well and saw Jesus in conversation with the woman and all they could think about was lunch.  This time they see the blind man and are moved not by compassion, but legalistic curiosity.  “Who sinned, this man or his parents?”  OMG, as texters would text; these are supposed to be the GOOD guys!

But don’t we often do the same thing?  Our language is replete with discompassionate expressions.  “He made his bed, let him sleep in it.”  “They’re where they want to be.”  “She got her comeuppance.”  “That’s the way they choose to live.”  “I took care of myself, so can they.”

I know a brilliant woman from a poor family who fell into homelessness after a divorce.  When she became homeless, her daughter began to see her differently, to shun her.  When the woman queried her daughter about this, her daughter told her that she must be stupid.  When the woman asked her daughter why she would say that, the daughter replied, “You’re homeless, aren’t you?”  Her daughter subjected her own mother to her stereotype of the homeless as stupid.

To whom have we become blind? Why?

Tomorrow: Here’s Mud in Your Eye!