Today's Gospel passage reminds me of an ironic time in my life. When acquaintances would ask about how things were going in my life and I would give them a brief overview, they would invariably tell me how happy they were that things were going so well for me. The irony was that I was feeling absolutely miserable about my life during this time. I was simply unable to see the blessings that had been given to me.
In today's passage, the leaders do not see the blessing that is so plainly before them. Ironically, the blind person regains his sight, but the people who have been able to see physically are not able to see spiritually and they disregard even the physical evidence before them.
In our own lives, what blessings are we disregarding? Are we allowing the busyness of our schedules to block out God's blessings? Are we allowing unfulfilling forms of pleasure to keep up from accepting the ultimate joy that can only come from God's love?
Are we allowing our suffering to make us closed off from the love that God wants to give to us? When I was feeling so miserable and was unable to acknowledge the blessings in my life, I was too preoccupied with the suffering I was experiencing to embrace the blessings I had received. I kept thinking that I could only be happy if all the things that were making me suffer were removed from my life. I want to get to a new place in my life, where everything would be fine, and then I could feel blessed.
What I realized many years later is that even my suffering can be a source of blessings. Through suffering, I can grow, become less selfish, more loving, and more open to the love of God in my life. After years of anguished spiritual wandering, I finally reached the point where I could give God thanks even for my suffering. When I did, I could suddenly see how full of blessings my life really is.
Ever since then, I have engaged in one very helpful practice, one that I call Three Things. Every night at the end of our prayers, my wife and I each name three things from the day for which we are grateful. They can be bigger events or just small things to brighten our day. By doing so, I have been able to reframe how I view each day. Instead of brooding on mysery, I seek to see the many blessings present in my life. More and more, this simple practice of thanksgiving has helped me to open my eyes to God's grace.
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The readings for the Fourth Suday of Lent, Cycle A, are:
1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
Psalm 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Rom 5:1-2, 5-8
Jn 9:1-41
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: Jerusalem Skyline by Zoltan Abraham (c) 2016.