Leading the blind
Being blind is and must be one of the worst experiences one can have. Just the thought of having something in your eye that physically ale’s you to see correctly, leaves an uncomfortable feeling in the eye. Several years ago I had cataract on my eyes and one eye was pretty bad. I was often disoriented, off balance and losing confidence; Thank God for the surgeon who corrected my eye. According to the CDC
- As of 2012, 4.2 million Americans aged 40 years and older suffer from uncorrectable vision impairment, out of which 1.02 million who are blind; this number is predicted to more than double by 2050 to 8.96 million due to the increasing epidemics of diabetes and other chronic diseases and our rapidly aging U.S. population.
- Approximately 6.8% of children younger than 18 years in the United States have a diagnosed eye and vision condition. Nearly 3 percent of children younger than 18 years are blind or visually impaired, defined as having trouble seeing even when wearing glasses or contact lenses.
The bible says that your eye is the light of your body and if the eye is not good your entire body is full of darkness (Mt6:22-23). In today’s technology scientists are inventing aids that help with blindness even to the point to being able to see; not perfectly but enough. According to Sue Greenberg Prize to End Blindness by the end of this century blindness will be ended.
Luke 6:39
39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
Physical blindness could possibly have a cure one day, but what about mental blindness, will scientist work so rigor to cure that? Blindness distorts our ability to make decisions that deal with destiny, and unless there is a guide that is not blind one can end un in a ditch. Jesus was followed by two blind men, they did not know where he was going, yet they followed him; maybe by the sound of his voice, and he healed them (Mt9:27-29). Sound is a leading guide to the blind, and it can lead to healing. The two blind men were not mentally blind, because they could hear a sound guide leading them to recovering their sight. Mental blindness deals with the heart more then the physical eyes. Jesus mentions the prophecy of Isaiah when he says that the people’s hearts have waxed gross and cannot see (Mt13:15-16).
So, what is mental blindness? Mind-blindness can be described as an inability to develop an awareness of what is in the mind of another human. It is not necessarily caused by an inability to imagine an answer, but is often due to not being able to gather enough information to work out which of the many possible answers is correct. Jesus warns not to be looking or trying to figure out what is wrong with your brother, before checking yourself out; mental blindness(Mt6:41). When one is mentally blind he/she cannot lead someone else to safety, because your to busy trying to figure him/her out. According to Synapse; a study on Autism, there is a test titled The Sally-Anne test which is a psychological test, used in developmental psychology to measure a person’s social cognitive ability to attribute false beliefs to others (Wimmer & Perner, 1983), for measuring mental blindness.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,a] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,b] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” 28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.”
15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?