Can you see?

From the Gospel of John: Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains."

This past weekend we heard a story of Jesus healing a man's blindness. Pretty amazing event actually. Yet, there is more to this story than a simple man not seeing then seeing two seconds later. Jesus teaches us something about "sight."

That last statement in the Gospel shown above isn't the easiest one to understand. The majority of us can see, but Jesus isn't talking about the sense of sight, but the sight that lies within us. By saying that "We see," we don't recognize our shortcomings and our limitations. Sure, it's our job in life to strive to be able to become as much like Jesus as possible, but that's a lofty goal to attain. By saying, "we see," we are acting like we already know it all, and that thirst to become better people is not there.

We have a lot to learn. Whether you're 7, 17, 27, 37, or 107, everyone has a little something to learn. Think about the last time you met someone 20 years older than you. It's hard to ignore how much more wisdom that older person has compared to the younger one. At 22, I am often dumbfounded at these people's skill at recalling all these different stories with all the different places they've been and people they've met. I can't even imagine knowing that much, but maybe someday down the road I'll know a tenth of what these older people do.

With that in mind, I'm sure that person 20 years older than myself has another person 20 years older than them that dumbfounds them as well. We need to respect that, and the fact that everyone has a lot to learn.

In this stage of Lent, we are more than halfway through. How much have you learned over these 20 days or so? Or did you begin Lent thinking you did not need to change anything? If that's the case, it might be time to go take a look at that Gospel reading once again, and find something, even a little bit smaller, to work on.

You've got time.