Light and dark tones

John 9 : 1 - 41

I was blind but now I see....

Lord, I believe....and he worshipped him

The art classes I have been attending are helping me 'observe' things. When I first started it was a matter of observing light and dark tones. In the sketches using pencil, I had to represent the shades of colour with light and dark shading. It helped me observe details and colors in a way I did not usually do. It dawned on me the other day when pointed out by a spiritual friend that this is a metaphor for my life at this stage! I am slowing down a bit by pruning activities and standing back as it were to observe 'details' about my own life. I learnt through art class that sketching is a slow and careful process. No point hurrying just to complete a piece. I am learning this about life - that walking in the way of Jesus is a slow process. I have the tendency to hurry ahead of him and often miss the many beautiful 'details' that he is trying to show me (Of course some have the tendency to lag behind, but that's another story altogether)

The man in this story was healed of his physical blindness. But he was also healed of his spiritual blindness. He acknowledged the miracle of physical sight but was also spiritually enabled to acknowledge Jesus as 'Lord'. As Christians, we are always invited to look out for the light and dark tones in our lives. Not many require healing from physical blindness but all require the slow healing of our spiritual blindness. Even when we have been given enough sight to call Jesus 'Lord', we know only too well that there are still dark shadows in our lives. Making a mental sketch of our lives, we would begin to notice the dark and light areas. Perhaps if we slow down, we can ask the Lord to illuminate those corners that remain in semi or even real darkness. This is one of the works of Lent - to admit with courage the darkness in our own lives and submit them to the light of Christ's healing grace.