We are fortunate to have opticians who optimise our eyesight by providing glasses of all persuasions, bifocals, varifocals, tinted lens, contact lens, replacement lens etc.

But what about spiritual sight? We all have a blind spot, spiritually as well as physically. The hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ expresses ‘I was blind but now I see’. Being spiritually blind means that we do not see (comprehend) the amazing gift that Jesus’ gives to each one of us in his birth, life and death on the cross to put us right with God and save us from our selfishness and going against God’s ways. Jesus chose to pay the price for all the ways we separate ourselves from God by not living according to his love, mercy and justice.

In Mark’s Gospel we hear about Bartimaeus, a blind beggar who shouted out to Jesus to be healed (saved). Jesus asked him ‘what do you want?’ A few verses before this, in the Gospel, Jesus asks the same question ‘what do you want?’ to his disciples James and John when they go to him with a request. Jesus had just spelt out to his disciples that he was on a journey to Jerusalem and his death on the cross.

The brothers James and John ask Jesus if they can have a prestigious place in heaven. They do not see (understand) that Jesus came as a servant king. His teaching tells of an upside down kingdom where the first shall be last and the meek will inherit the earth.

We learn a lot from Bartimaeus who, unlike the selfish disciples, asked to be healed. The Greek word for healed is saved (sozo). He might not have had his sight but he had insight and used what he did have, his voice. He shouted to be heard, even when others told him to be quiet he shouted all the louder! He teaches us to be our own voice, not that of others and indeed Jesus called him by name as he calls us and told him that it is his faith that healed him.

There are times when we need to shout to God. The psalms give us words to shout out our emotions to God. In our reading from Jeremiah we are told to shout out to be saved!

This is exactly what Bartimaeus did. He was specific, he knew what he wanted Jesus to do for him. How loudly and clearly do we shout out what we want God to do for us?

My daughter, grieving for her son who passed to glory suddenly, frequently prayed to have just one more day with Sunny to say goodbye and tell him how much she loves and misses him. She knew with her head that this was impossible but went on shouting out her specific request to God. Her prayer was answered in the form of a vivid dream in which Sunny returned home for a day. His Mum saw that he was fine and he talked about friends he had made with young men killed during the 1st World War, whom he named. He happily spend the day with his family but knew when it was time to go back and was happy to go. This dream has given much comfort to my daughter.

We so often underestimate the power of prayer. What is impossible for us is possible for God. God works through dreams and visions today as he always did. Jeremiah gives us a wonderful vision of God gathering us all home, including the blind and lame as a father gathers his children besides streams of water, on a level path so as not to stumble.

Jesus is able to save (heal) us because he is able to stand in our place before God. Through him we come into relationship with God and out of darkness into light. Therefore the most important thing we should want is relationship with him.

Angela Stewart (lay minister).