Inattentional blindness

 

I recently read about a study in which a group of radiologists were asked to check x-ray slides of lungs for cancerous nodules.  The radiologists weren’t told that the slides had been altered so that each included a matchbook-sized image of a man in a gorilla suit waving his fist.  83% of the radiologists missed it.  According to the researcher, many missed the gorilla because of “inattentional blindness” (also called “perceptual blindness”).  The radiologists, searching for expected anomalies that would indicate cancer, were so focused on the task at hand that they failed to see the obvious, visible but unexpected distraction.

In a reading from Matthew’s Gospel, we can see the inattentional blindness of the scribes (and maybe some of the disciples) [Matthew 17:9-13].  The scribes – men who spent their lives copying, studying and commenting on what we today refer to as Old Testament Scripture – knew the prophecy, “Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.” [Malachi 4:5].  The scribes grew up listening to stories of Elijah, and they spent their adult lives writing and discussing and pontificating about him.  Many were probably confident they would easily recognize the prophet when he returned to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.  Once they had seen Elijah, they would turn their attention to seek the Messiah, and they had a pretty good idea of what to expect there, too.

Yet Jesus tells us that Elijah had come but many of the Jewish experts had missed him.  What Jesus says here reminds the disciples what He had announced earlier [Matthew 11:14] that John the Baptist “is the Elijah who was to come.”  The Voice in the Wilderness was not what was expected, so “the spirit and power of Elijah” actively preparing the way of the Lord [Luke 1:17] went unrecognized.  Even as the scribes focused intently on the work of transcribing and commenting on the Law and the Prophets, they failed to recognize the prophetic presence of John the Baptist fulfilling the prophecy of Elijah’s return.  They had eyes, but did not see; ears, but did not hear [Matthew 13:10-15].  It should be no surprise, then, that these same folks also failed to recognize the One sent to save.  They expected a political and military powerhouse, so a carpenter’s kid from Nazareth – Can anything good come out of Nazareth? [John 1:46] – hardly drew their attention.

Though John had a unique and definitive role in preparing for the coming of Christ, so also do each one of us have a role in preparing for His continual coming.  Jesus came once many years ago, but He desires to continue coming into our lives.  And He can only come if we properly prepare for Him.

How do we “prepare the way of the Lord?”  How do we continue the work of John the Baptist?  We do so, especially in Advent, by heeding the main message of John, to repent of our sin.

Though we all struggle with sin as a result of our fallen human nature, we should never forget that our calling is that of perfection.   We’re called to be perfect as the Father in Heaven is perfect [Matthew 5:48].  We’re called to recognize our sins, confess them, and strive to become detached from them.

Advent is one of the most important times of year to do this and it’s especially important that we seek out the grace of the Sacrament of Reconciliation during this holy season.  Embracing repentance in this holy season is the best way to prepare for the continuous coming of Christ in our life.