A Blind Eye

1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 - Ps 144:1b, 2, 9-10 - Mk 3:1-6

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What was it that wounded the Pharisees? What hurt or pain had they suffered that so blinded them to who Christ was? The reactions of the Pharisees seem to be irrational. What counsel did they keep when they were away from Christ and therefore not recorded in the Gospel?

Thomas Merton said that once an arrogant man believed he was humble that he would be hard to reach. Is this where the pharisees were? Is this not where we are from time to time?

There are those that might think, after reading this and my other postings that I am down on being human. There are those that think I am saying that God and religion are harsh things that belittle us and make us small... This is not the case at all.

We are a fantastic people with so much potential, but we, like the pharisees have a blindness. Where the pharisees were blind to Christ we are blind to Christ in each other. Our own interest will allow us the conciet of comprehending Christ in ourselves, but it is almost alwas easier to see the good in ourselves then in another. ( Except when we want them to do something for us. ) Everyday however one does not have to go very far to see the effects of selfishness in the world. Take the simple task of driving. For whatever reason our roads have become a place of self-interested mayhem. Nobody gives anybody half a chance. People are constantly cut off, honk at and worse. The streets are full of impatience and anger... So thick you can taste it in the air.

It is this self centered focus I believe that put the pharisees where they were, eventually leads Saul and David to their down falls, and keeps everyone separated. People are more interested in how they appear to others than being friends. People are more interested in their lives than the lives of others. If all we do is gauged only by what we gain then it will not be long before our schools, churches, markets, and homes will be in much the same condition as our roads. It has already begun.

We each stand as David facing our own self centered interest in the form of Goliath. Do we take our sling and charge, or drop our rocks and run? I know that I have done my fair share of running and will do so in the future. God knows this and still loves me, but when I manage to defeat my self interest, even for a short while, it makes him happy. Each time the monster goes down, he is easier to defeat... but each time I give in he becomes stronger.