Prayer: Jesus, my friend and savior, let my heart be opened to see what my eyes do not. Amen.
Reading: John 9: 1-41 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: Why is it that when we hear of a tragedy or misfortune, we want to assign fault? Joe has cancer? Well yeah, but didn’t he used to smoke? Her husband left her? Gee, she must not have been a very good wife. My neighbors can’t pay their rent, but they have the latest smart phones; they must waste their money. Did you hear about Job? Boy, that guy must have some secret sinful whoppers! And yet, bad things happen to good people all the time. I admit, I’ve been guilty of playing both the blame game and “Why me, it’s not fair”. I want my world to make sense. If I live “right” then shouldn’t “good” things happen to me? Or at least not “bad” ones? What did I do to deserve this, or that? Was I, deep down, a bad…? In healing this man’s sight, I imagine Jesus also healed some of the hurt from a lifetime being told that his hardship was somehow deserved. Jesus dispels the idea that the man’s blindness is God’s punishment. He is unusually direct with the disciples, answering their inquiry not with parable but explicitly: neither the man nor his parents sinned. His words and actions offer this lesson: when we encounter hardship ourselves, or pain in others, we have an opportunity. We can learn. We can share. We can be there for one another, withhold our judgment, show compassion. After all, none of us can see in the dark. God’s love is the light of the world; without it we are all of us blind. -- Heather LeBlanc
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