Mindful Living
While walking one day, Jesus caught sight of a person who had been blind from birth. We can be confident that just as Jesus didn’t ignore him neither will he ignore us. The Lord considers us worthy of his attention. While this person had been blind from birth, the parable nonetheless speaks to all of us. Meditation reveals to each of us our own unique forms of blindness.
There are various kinds of blindness. For instance, it may be physical, resulting from serious illness or age obscuring one’s vision and this can often be cured. Take that caused by cataracts; it can be cured when a surgeon removes its cause. But those Jesus encounters aren’t cured by surgical skill but only by the power of God. And we too can be healed of our blindness. Jesus said: “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” So, all who are blind are able to gain sight through Jesus.
Of course, physical blindness is just one form of blindness. We are all blind in so many ways that we are not even aware of. We grow up in a family and a society and culture where things are done and always have been done in a certain way. And because that is the container within which we grew, we often don’t see any alternative way of doing things. I grew up in a family of ten children (nine boys and one girl) so there were 12 of us in all sitting down to every meal. We always had a cup of tea after dinner and there were family ‘rules’ about making the tea. That task fell to the first person to finish their dinner! We didn’t have a large commercial tea-pot as one might in a community hall, just a regular tea pot. That meant that one pot of tea was never enough, so there was a second rule: Whoever made the tea had to refill the kettle and boil it immediately, so that when the first pot was emptied, it could be refilled again, quickly. That requirement was beaten into us – not physically, but metaphorically – and not alone do I still do it, but at least one of my 40-year-old offspring does too!
Example
This is a very simple example of how we develop ways of doing things and of seeing the world that may have been helpful once, but which can distort reality when they are no longer appropriate. As we grow into adulthood we become unconsciously blinded by such conditioning, and also by our prejudices, by our fears, by our desires, by our needs, even by our preoccupations.
Even when we are not blinded, we may still, as they say, ‘turn a blind eye on things’. Things that it would be inconvenient to notice, things that might get in the way of our egoic desire for power, prestige and possessions. In that way, we blind ourselves to the needs of others, to a better, more just way of being.
Healed
The person Jesus healed received more than just physical sight. Jesus’ touch not only heals but enlightens. He teaches us that God, who created us, can heal and enlighten us. We too are to discover that in Christ we will be able to see clearly. We will see that everything that happens to us is an opportunity to draw closer to God by love and willingness. Meditation helps us to discover this for ourselves as it reveals our blindness to us.
Some years ago, I wrote a short prayer which I sometimes say before or after meditation and throughout the day. It goes as follows:
Abba, Amma, Open my heart,
So your Word may find a home in me.
Jesus, Lord, I am blind;
Make me aware that I may see.
Holy Spirit, awaken me,
So as you wish I may be.
This simple prayer captures our deepest intention in meditation. We choose to sit still and silent in God’s presence, leaving ourselves open to a graced encounter in the hope that it will transform us; that we might become more open to what God asks of us as we go about our ordinary, everyday lives. Meditation helps to open our hearts and keeps them open so that we become ever more willing and ever less wilful.
It is good to acknowledge our blindness to ourselves and to meditate every day so that we may see more clearly and respond in life as we are called to do. Meditation helps us to see our every action and reaction as something we do in and with God. We sit in silent faith believing that doing so will open our eyes to God’s loving presence in all aspects of our lives and in everyone we encounter.