In the Gospels, we see Jesus perform several healings. He heals lame people, deaf people, mute people, people with leprosy, and two women who, for different reasons, cannot become pregnant. What’s important to see in these various miracles is that, almost always, there’s more at issue than mere physical healing. Jesus is healing people in a deeper way. We see this most clearly at those times when Jesus heals people who are blind. He’s giving them more than just physical sight; he’s opening their eyes so they can see more deeply. But that’s only an image. How might it be unpackaged? How can the grace and teachings of Jesus help us see more deeply? Fr. Rolheiser offers these suggestions:
- By shifting our eyes from seeing through familiarity to seeing through wonder.
- By shifting our eyes from seeing through paranoia and self-protection to seeing through metanoia and nurture.
- By shifting our eyes from seeing through jealousy to seeing through admiration.
- By shifting our eyes from seeing through bitterness to seeing through eyes purified and softened by grief.
- By shifting our eyes from seeing through fantasy and auto-eroticism to seeing through appreciation and prayer.
- By shifting our eyes from seeing through relevance to seeing through contemplation.
- By shifting our eyes from seeing through anger to seeing through forgiveness.
- By shifting our eyes from seeing through longing and hunger to seeing through gratitude.
Longing and hunger distort our vision. Gratitude restores it. It enables insight. The most grateful person you know has the best eyesight of all the people you know.