“Seeing”
Rev. Dr. Rich Jones
Westwood First Presbyterian
6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7 saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ 9 Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ 10 But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ – John 1:6-10
What a strange healing! Jesus put mud in his hands, then told the blind man to go to a pool and wash his eyes out…the man did, and he was healed! No one asked Jesus, he just did it. Why saliva? That sounds gross, but some folks back in the first century thought saliva had healing powers.
Now, today, we know that’s not true! So, don’t go around spitting on people to ward of some virus or healing something! That will give you a different outcome I believe!
The formerly blind man gave witness to being blind and now being able to see! He was kind of snarky in the rest of the story…I liked his response throughout…ultimately telling the Pharisees that they don’t see God when God is right in front of them…confronting them of their blindness!
But, then again, aren’t we all blind at times? We often live in darkness and uncertainty, looking for all sorts of answers from others.
Friends, we may be walking around blind these days. With all that’s going on, a common theme in this season of so much uncertainty is that we know that we don’t know. With this war in Iran, lawlessness in our own country, the illusion of division and hate being spewed by so called leaders, and so much else in life, we may feel like we are blind, not able to see what’s next or in front of us. Maybe even a bit lost (or a lot) lost in our blindness, or maybe things are simply fuzzy. If you feel that you are, I encourage you…being lost means you are getting closer to being found! Finding is not about certainty or finding answers, but finding is about seeing our lives becoming whole as we begin to grow a deeper trust. It is a “hero’s journey” of finding God or God finding you as you lean into this season. It’s part of the process really, the process of growth, illumination, conversion, and transformation. It is a “dark night of the soul”, which is filled with questions, letting go, trusting deeper in something unseen, and finding the “light” that you are in and through God’s sharing of life with us.
In unexpected moments, we become aware, or see something deeper, something divine, something mysterious that we can’t explain well, but we experience it. Sight, awareness…coming alive! It is also a time of tremendous possibility for growth and becoming the people that we want to be as we lean into the darkness. This is how we move towards finding our “true Selves”, the abundant life Jesus talks about, the pearl of great price, the treasure in the field.
We are not alone, even as we stumble about. May we stay curious and experience God with us, entangled in our lives and in the world around us and is closer than we could ever imagine! We may be lost, we may be blind, but God’s divine flow is at work. It is springs forth from our ground of Self, our made in the image of God Self. This common ground with ourselves, creation, and with God’s Self also beckons to see our oneness together. In that oneness, we co-create with the world, out of our common ground, the common good. We are in communion with a God who loves, a Jesus who shows us how to live, and the Spirit of God that flows and gives us amazing imagination and possibilities if we live in awareness, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.
Much love all,
Rev. Dr. Rich Jones
Minister/Head of Staff, Westwood First Presbyterian