I love to watch people who are so happy they can’t help but jump and shout. We get used to seeing people act crazy when their favorite sports team wins the big game. People who normally would not show any emotion, seem to become different people, able to show something on the outside that normally remains on the inside. Suit and tie types jumping and screaming. Steal-faced around their families, have emotions that make them seem like strangers.
This picture of two people in the same skin raises a question for me. Which of the two people seen is the real person? Is it the one with no emotion, or the one oozing it from every pore. And if they can show emotion at the sports event, why can’t they show some of that positive emotion at home, around those they claim to love, where emotional expression has a much greater impact on the future.
Can you imagine a blind man sitting by the roadside begging and being exuberant with happiness? I picture a sad person, tired of having to beg, tired of being dependent on other people. I imagine, that if they allowed themselves the opportunity, they would rather be doing almost anything else. Sitting, waiting for someone to drop something in the hat and saying thank you. Not much variety. Not much challenge. Not much fulfillment.
But as you sit there you pick up the news as it passes by. People talk as though you don’t exist. Their conversations let you in on the world out there, the world you can’t see or experience because you are stuck there begging. The village gossip travels past you. The cattle futures and upstart investment opportunities get discussed as people stroll past. So do the tragedies, the funeral plans and lost hopes. Every economic and social trend walks by your mat.
The latest reports peak your interest. There is someone who heals people in town. He has helped all kinds of folks. He has even raised the dead back to life. And your mind begins to wonder, could he restore my sight. His name is Jesus. And you determine, that if you have the opportunity, you are going to ask Jesus to touch you as well. You know you don’t deserve mercy. You have been blamed all your life for your blindness by everyone who cared to comment on your condition. You have begun to believe it yourself. Maybe you do deserve to be blind.
And then it happens. You hear a commotion coming from the town. You hear lots of foot traffic and conversation. You pick up little bits and pieces. Jesus is part of the crowd that is coming your direction. Here is your moment. It is going to happen.
So you shout. No one is going to stop you. It is now or never, do or die. And then He hears your shout and calls you to Him. You drop everything and off you go toward Him in abandon. It is your one chance and you are taking it.
The Arnold Journey 