I can only imagine what being blind is like. It certainly would be isolating. The darkness would close in, especially if the blindness came later in life. The simplest things would become dangerous. Walking around the house becomes as obstacle course with sharp objects and multiple tripping points. You can’t just go for a walk in the neighborhood by yourself, at least not to begin with. Carrying out the easy, taken for granted tasks would have to be relearned. Getting dressed in a color coordinated outfit requires the help of a sighted person.
Driving a car is out of the question. Looking into the face of your children and grandchildren becomes just a pipedream. Watching a movie turns into listening to sound effects. Next time you watch a movie, close your eyes for a minute and see if you can keep up with what is happening. It’s a very different experience!
Imagine trying to navigate life without an internal compass of right and wrong. Or not understanding social clues like a smile or a frown. Or looking at a road sign and not knowing what it means. Or looking at a menu in a restaurant and not being able to read the words. These could be just as difficult to adjust to as physical blindness. And yet some people endure these brain handicaps every day.
John tells us that people who don’t love fellow believers and yet claim to be Jesus-followers, are blind. They walk aimlessly in life. They don’t have a definite direction, and they certainly have no way of orienting themselves in the spiritual world. There are many things over which they could stumble. Just as a physically blind person has no way of knowing the dangers that lay ahead, so it is with those who don’t love. There are obstacles that are clearly visible to those who do love, but which are unseen to someone who doesn’t love. They are plain as day to obedient people, but hidden in the open to those who don’t love. Obedience gives sight.
I am sure that physically blind people adapt. They learn to cope with their lack of sight. The develop ways of navigating the world that we don’t understand. I had a professor at college, a music teacher, he was blind. He would slap his feet against the sidewalk as he walked. He used the sound bouncing off the buildings as a way to know where he was. He rode a three wheeled bicycle and used the same types of echo location tricks to stay on course.
But his navigation was not the same as a sighted person’s. You could see right away that he was blind by the way he moved about the physical world. His movements were awkward and halting. He often bumped into those unseen things. He was a phenomenal organist and pianist, but even his conducting was awkward. His movements weren’t smooth and flowing.
So it is, John writes, that those who are disobedient are spiritually blind. Because they refuse to come into the light that obedience brings, their spiritual world is filled with obstacles that they fail to see. Their spiritual walk is awkward and halting. Those who watch from the sidelines can see something is wrong. They miss the obvious things right at their feet. They move right toward danger without the slightest hesitation. And they won’t believe the warnings that others give them.
Sound like some of the people you know? They rush headlong into trouble, again and again. They don’t seem to learn from their mistakes. They can’t even learn from other’s mistakes. I hope you aren’t like this!
The Arnold Journey 