Thoughts for the Day

Jesus also told them a parable: ‘Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher'.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

I was brought up on a strange choice of books as a child,. There was 'Freckles' by Gene Stratton Porter (1904) about a young man with one arm, no proper name and no family who ends up working in the Limberlost Swamp Forest looking after trees; 'Daddy long legs' by Jean Webster (1912) about a girl in an orphanage who has a benefactor who pays for her to attend college and all she knows is he is tall and thin; and 'What Katy Did' by Susan Coolidge (1872) about a girl who injures herself. All were written by American writers presumably all that was available in Costa Rica where my mother grew up. My favourite was 'What Katy Did' about an impetuous tomboy who wants to be good! She is always in trouble, and after a particular incident goes out to the woodshed to try out the new swing which she has been forbidden to use (it was unsafe), as a result she falls and severely injures her back. Her days from then on are one of pain in a dark room cluttered with medicine bottles. No one wants to come near her because she is such a misery, and it takes her cousin Helen herself an invalid to help her to change her life and become the very heart of the family. Nothing will change Katy from the cross and fretful horror into the welcoming heart of the house, other than one who has herself learnt to turn her pain into a place of welcome for others. Cousin Helen's counsel prevails, and despite setbacks Katy begins to change.

Jesus in today's passage from Luke's Gospel is speaking about whom we follow. Are we being led by the spiritually blind? If so, we will probably fall off a cliff or into a pit. We have seen Micah denouncing the blind guides of his day, but blind guides still exist today. Ultimately, Jesus is the only safe teacher and we need to compare everything we learn about our faith to His example, and then follow His instructions to the letter.

Lord Jesus,
may we learn to follow Your example
in all things,
to listen to Your words of wisdom
and change our lives
so that we grown spiritually
into the people You would have us be.
Amen.