“Come and see.” “Let’s go see.” “Go and see for yourself.” The beggar did not see until he went where he was sent…and either do we.
To the extent that we live in neighborhoods with people like us, away from those who are different, we live in blindness. When Jesus emerged from the Jordan, he fled to the desert to consider his calling. After forty days of facing his silence and his hungers and his temptations and the echo of the voice of his Father “You are my beloved; my favor rests on you” he went to the synagogue and stated his mission, from Isaiah 61:
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
Don’t you think that when we go where we are called or sent, what we see will guide us and sustain us? Haven’t we had that experience e from time to time in what we might refer to as “peak experiences”? Don’t we often hide in blind safety, dead to the life that awaits us? What are we afraid of?
John,
ReplyDeleteI am so struck by this reflection.
"To the extent that we live in neighborhoods with people like us, away from those who are different, we live in blindness."
In The Sunday NY Times on 3/27, Thomas Sugrue, who wrote "The Origins of the Urban Crisis," reflected on Detroit's census drop to 714,000 people by noting that white people are still running from African Americans...in the inner ring suburbs of Detroit. They're doing it not primarily by moving to further out suburbs (because of the drop in home values, this is less and less possible now), but by moving their kids into further out (and whiter) schools. So, the blindness continues. Is there enough mud to be made? Who has enough saliva?
"Don’t you think that when we go where we are called or sent, what we see will guide us and sustain us?
Ah, now you're getting closer to my conscience..and consciousness. What am I allowing myself to see here on Lamphere St. -- both my mud-maker and my Siloam? Am I allowing my neighbors to make mud with their saliva/lives-hopes-struggles-joys-fears, and put it in my eyes? Can I trust that I will see deeper, better, farther, clearer, after all that smearing is washed off in the often messy splashing around that's entailed in making community together? Your words are a blessing and a challenge. Thank you.