9.1 Beyond the Blindness
A Child's Defiance and a Deeper Lesson
"It's not going to happen," our five-year-old grandson, Parker, quickly responds when I ask him to do something he doesn't want to do. It sounds disrespectful and defiant, but it's also so cute. "Put on your shoes, and let's get in the car," I say. "It's not gonna happen," he immediately says. Of course, he then will put on his shoes and get in the car. He’s satisfied. I smile. We drive off.
I believe Jesus had an "it's not going to happen" moment between chapters 8 and 9 of John's story. Let's quickly review. This less-than-successful recruiting session made quite an impression on John, who was in attendance. He's spent a lot of time on it and gave us many details.
Jesus’ key points to his fellow Jews were:(1) we're not talking about keeping a set of rules but following an operating system that guides us day by day. (2) "Who is your father?” This refers to which operating system you are using. Are you merely doing life or following the voice within the way Jesus did? Jesus was so "at one" with his consciousness that there was no disconnect between him and his father, his operating system. His key phrase was, "I know him and keep his word.” (3) Getting to know “God within” is not a “once-and-done event" but an ongoing, growing relationship.
So, what happened when Jesus gave this teaching in the temple?
8:59 “So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.” If this were a scene in a movie, it would show Jesus walking away from this “near-death experience” in the temple and into the wilderness. I hear the melancholy music playing as the scene ends, his head bowed. As the next scene opens, it's a sunny morning, and 9:1 As he walks along, he sees a man blind from birth.
Contemplating that blank space between these two sentences causes the hot water of my imagination to reach the boiling point, and the questions pop up like bubbles in the steam. What happened between the end of chapter 8 and the beginning of chapter 9? Was it overnight? How many nights? Did he spend them alone, like he did before? Did he spend this time praying and meditating? My working theory: It was at least one night, and he was alone and spent it in prayer and meditation.
Prayer and Meditation: Jesus' Secret Sauce
Contemplating John's story carefully has made me realize that prayer and meditation are the "secret sauce" in Jesus's life, a “proprietary” blend of practices that are mentioned but not fully explained. They are routine for him, similar to sleep, meals, and other everyday activities, and therefore, they become invisible, hardly worth mentioning. In addition, these are solo activities; there's no one around to witness and record them.
Jesus hoped that the temple would be the answer. He could envision his teaching, his “light,” igniting the consciousness of those who had come, and they would return to their synagogues and continue enlightening all of “Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost ends of the earth.” Then, amid his meditation, in the middle of this night, he hears within himself, "It's not going to happen." Confused and disappointed, he can only think, "Not my will, but thine.”
To start the next chapter of John’s story, we join Jesus “as he walked along.” Was he disillusioned? I would be. Did he awaken and still feel the sting of yesterday? Haven't you done this before? I awaken daily to Millie's absence, feeling like a fresh bruise on my heart. Unfortunately, we will never know precisely what Jesus felt, but John is back with him now, with his keen vision and memory, and we will never forget the powerful story he records next.
A Lesson in Compassion and Enlightenment
9:1 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
I can feel the frustration in his response to the disciples’ question. He must be thinking, “Not all who cannot see are blind,” or ”It's not only the blind who cannot see,” as he remembers the Jews in the temple and now hears his disciples. “Will they ever open their eyes and awaken from their cultural trance?” It's as if he abruptly stops, turns, and impatiently answers in a rapid-fire fashion: “Come on, men. Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind, so God’s works might be revealed in him.” With that, he immediately ends the outdated belief in intergenerational sins. Hold that thought. We’ll come back to it soon.
Cultural Trances: Recognizing the Water We Swim In
But first, don’t we all live in the trance of our current culture? Each of us is born into an ongoing narrative we did not write. It did not start with us and will not stop without us. It seems so natural. Things appear so routine that we never question them while in the midst of them: the pre-16th century solar system, 19th-century slavery, segregation in the sixties, women as only homemakers, secretaries, nurses, or teachers.
David Foster Wallace tells the story of two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”
We all need Copernicus, Lincoln, MLK, and Steinem to question the collective “us” and awaken us to the error of our well-worn ways. I must always be ready to acknowledge the water I'm swimming in and be on the lookout for its outdated beliefs. In today's story, Jesus did that for the disciples.
They weren't entirely wrong to ask about intergenerational sins or, in their words, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” In the Torah, Moses quoted God as saying, “ I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Moses put a hint of hyperbole in God’s mouth when translating the 10 Commandments to stress how dangerous worshiping idols can be and how loving God is. At that time, it was said that way for a specific effect. This is 1000 years later, and the literalists, those who have revoked God’s poetic license, are still swimming in the error of an outdated belief.
Can you hear him saying, “Come on, men. Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind, so God’s works might be revealed in him.” With that, he immediately ends this outdated belief. He could've added, “ All people are instruments through which God's work is to be revealed. I am. You are. All God’s children are.” He has been demonstrating that daily through his words and actions to Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the woman caught in adultery, and now this man born blind. We Are All Instruments through Which God's Work Is to Be Revealed. Period. Full Stop.
As he remembers what happened in the temple, he warns them that time is of the essence with words like “night is coming.” Jesus reminds them that he is the world's light, but only as long as he is in the world. Everyone else appears to be swimming in the deep, dark waters of their misguided beliefs. And if his light goes out, the whole world goes dark – a total eclipse of the heart.
To my grandchildren and their children: as you walk through life, be open to the fact that what you accepted as truth last year may not be true today. Your consciousness should always be open to the evolving truth. Be aware of the literalists' tight fists, which hold onto outdated beliefs to protect their sense of security. They will make you afraid of your own shadow. It is true that "God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow,” but we're not supposed to be. You are a spiritual being, and God's genetic code or spiritual DNA is evolving within you. Try to live with open hands, open arms, an open heart, and, most of all, an open mind.
The Healing: Compassion Amid Frustration
Back to John’s story.
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 he.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
Conclusion: The Evolving Truth and Spiritual Growth
This incident makes the questions in my mind light up like a pinball machine on bonus. "How did you do this? Why did you use mud? Was it the saliva? Why the pool of Saloam? Did this happen?” To which I hear, “Come on, Alan, don't waste time!"Instead of trying to understand how Jesus healed the man by putting mud on his eyes, I need to focus on his kindness and empathy for this helpless man, even amid his frustration.
No matter my mental/emotional state, I should focus on opportunities to exercise compassion. This is the Capital T Truth that leads to freedom or “life before death,” as Wallace would say.
The story shows us that Jesus understood his role was to "open the eyes" of the spiritually blind and introduce a new operating system—living out of spiritual consciousness instead of by external rules and customs. The healing, with its mud and saliva, gave the story its indelible nature, ensuring it would be retold for generations.
The next segment will explore how this simple act of compassion affected the man, his parents, the religious elite, and all who knew him.
We'll see how the truth awakened some but gave others, as Jackson Browne would say, "the fitful dreams of a greater awakening.”
Key Takeaways:
1. Jesus’ “Secret Sauce” contains prayer and meditation. These practices were essential to his spiritual guidance and inner strength (and ours, too).
2. Jesus powerfully rejects the outdated belief in intergenerational sins, urging me to question and move beyond inherited or culturally ingrained misconceptions.
3. Jesus’ teachings highlight the shift from following rigid rules to living with spiritual consciousness, where an inner connection with the divine guides one's actions.
4. John invites us to recognize and question the "cultural trances" or societal norms we are immersed in, much like the disciples who needed to awaken from their literal interpretation.
5. Compassion is the core of Jesus’ ministry and central to a spiritually conscious life. Living with an open mind and heart allows for continual growth and alignment with our evolving understanding of truth.
