Last spring,
I experienced a ‘flash of light’ in my right eye, followed by a complete loss
of vision in that eye. Since it was a
holiday weekend, I had to wait several days to see an ophthalmologist. By the time I saw the doctor, my ‘sight’ had
improved a lot, but the ‘vision’ in my right eye was a lot worse. The doctors are still trying to come up with
a cause and course of treatment.
The episode
has made me realize that if we had to be deprived of one of our human
faculties, most of us would probably be least willing to give up our
sight. To miss out on seeing people, the
beauties of nature, movies, television – even this computer text – is so
threatening. We can close our eyes for a
while and try to imagine what totally blind people experience, but our
experience is limited as we can simply open our eyes and see again. Trying to see without our glasses or contact
lenses is perhaps most challenging for us.
The
Scriptures frequently present sinfulness in terms of blindness, and redemption
in terms of seeing. In our baptism our
eyes were opened to see the Lord in faith.
That Baptism experience was most likely years ago, and so this Advent
Season 2020 (with all of its challenges) asks us: Are we keeping our eyes open? Do we see our redemption at hand?
God is
present for us everywhere, especially in people. His joy is in the smile of an infant, His
acceptance of us in the affection of a child, His vitality in the energy of an
adolescent, His power in the strength of an athlete, His beauty in the
loveliness of a human being, His concern in the devotion of a parent, His
wisdom in the prudence and insight of the elderly. What experiences, what "sights"!
This Advent
encourages us not to close our eyes to God’s presence, or to live in darkness
and gloom. As did the two blind men in
Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 9:27-31), we’re invited to profess our faith in
Jesus, to acknowledge His presence and power, and to keep our eyes open and
follow Him as 21st century disciples. "The
Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? …wait for the Lord with
courage; be stouthearted and wait for the Lord." (Psalms 27)
Come, Lord Jesus. Help us to see with the eyes of faith!
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