Getting one's sight back

John 9

[18] The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received
his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received
his sight

Once upon a time I read an ancient church father saying something like 'Nothing is as damaging to the faith as those Christians who say something is true contrary to what pagan and Christian can observe.' I'd like to find the quote again so I could get it correct and attribute it, but for now I'm stuck.

This blind man in the gospels was stuck. He saw for the first time and yet problems remained. Some wouldn't believe that he'd been blind. Others distanced themselves "He's an adult, so ask him." and this formerly blind man was left in limbo.

Job 19

[1] Then Job answered: [2] "How long will you torment me, and break me
in pieces with words? [3] These ten times you have cast reproach upon
me; are you not ashamed to wrong me?

....

[14] "My relatives and my close friends have failed me; [15] the
guests in my house have forgotten me; my serving girls count me as
a stranger; I have become an alien in their eyes.

In Job we also find a similar lament. In Job the problems come and Job feels as if his friends fail him. In John the family desertion happens when the healing is in an unusual fashion. The solution to our problems isn't always in the healing of the problem that is seen. Sometimes the problem that is seen is the tip of the iceberg. In family systems therapies the goal is to look at the whole situation rather than just the identified problem. What in the circumstances makes one person act out and what benefits do others in the family get from having one person act out?

In Job's case his troubles illuminated the problem with conventional answers to suffering (and some of the answers of Job's so-called friends are still used today). In the blind man of John the healing of the identified problem brought into clarity the problems in the whole community.

Healing of a physical problem may bring to light other problems and disaster may make clear the limitations of what we've believed. It may be more important to our well-bing if we consider how to meet the situations in which we are involved rather than to look for the obvious solution. In tragedy Job found that the superficial answers of religiousity didn't meet his needs. In being healed the blind man found that his sight showed more problems.

Healing, shalom, wholeness isn't just about whether everything looks right, but about the physical, spiritual, emotional and mental realms all being correct. What are we and our communities avoiding? Where have we mistaken the way? Are we so focused on the way the healing happens that we forget to celebrate the healing? Are we so focused on blaming the tragedy on someone that we forget to comfort the one who is hurt? Do we look at the symptoms or look for the real problems?

The questions we ask may be more important than the answers. The friends of Job did the right thing when they say while Job mourned. It was when they give some of the same answers we give today that they fell short. In the end it is the one who cried for relief, the one who told his problems must come from his sin, who was right before God and the ones who give the religious answers who were in the wrong.

We need to be careful that we don't blame the victim. We need to be careful that we aren't giving the religious answers that ignore God. We need to look for where God is leading us, rather than the answers that are in our comfort zone. We may have our sight, but the question is do we really see.