Thursday, October 22, 2015

Bartimaeus

I'm preaching on the blind beggar Bartimaeus in Mark 10 this week.  Needless to say, I'm struggling a bit with my direction.  Isn't it true that Bartimaeus, even blind, could see better than the rest, and Jesus helped breathed new life into him when nobody else would give him the time of day. So what does it mean to be healed...and what does it mean to see?  I realize this is a story, not to be taken so literally and to be viewed in the greater context of the entire Gospel of Mark.  But still!!  The greatest and most frustrating part about scripture - there are so many treasures within and endless ways to look at just a few short verses.  This morning I tried a little poetry....just needing to get it off my chest.

"Bartimaeus"

Without my eyes
would I recognize the glorious colors of sun rising
tell apart the blaze of orange from the sizzle of yellow
or the crystal dew sparkling on a blade of grass

Without my vision
would I be able to reach out and touch
grasping and holding
life that is living and breathing and wondering and calling

Without my eyes
how could I know, how would I trust
that the one walking by me cares enough
to see me
to beckon me
in a crowd bursting with status and esteem

Without my eyes to study and examine and analyze and critique
would I ever understand all that there is
to be realized in this great big world

I am finding it to be true,
though I am hushed,
that this great Life finds me
And, without my eyes,
I see life anew

So I walk along

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