Checking Our Blind Spots

Dear Epiphany,

 When I was first learning to drive, my parents and then my driver’s ed instructor constantly reminded me to “check your blind spots.” Those places in the rear quarters of the car where the side mirrors don’t quite reach and the rear view mirror doesn’t yet capture. I was taught to check the mirrors then give a quick glance over my shoulder to make sure no vehicles were lingering in the car’s blind spot before I changed lanes. It has saved me more than a few times and led to some near misses and pounding hearts when I’ve neglected to do so.

We all have “blind spots” in our own hearts and souls. Places where we can’t see or refuse to look or no one has ever helped us shine a light or we simply don’t know what we don’t know. This Sunday’s readings are all about the blind spots of different people in the Bible.  The priest Eli has literally gone blind, leaving his household to run amok. His servant, Samuel, doesn’t know how to recognize God’s voice calling. Samuel’s lack of experience is his blind spot, so he relies on Eli to teach him to listen and respond to the voice he hears as God’s voice. In John’s Gospel, Nathanael can’t believe something good would come out of Nazareth nor that Jesus could possibly know him. That is, until Nathanael agrees to “come and see,” encountering Jesus for himself. Nathanael’s cultural assumptions, and maybe also his pride, are his blind spots. In all of the lessons from the Bible on Sunday, each person is willing to check their blind spots, to “come and see” something new. Of course, it is God who is always there. God who is seeing into their hearts, tracing their journeys and resting places, beckoning them on into a deeper relationship and a wholehearted life.

It is worth pausing to ask ourselves these days, with all humility, have I checked my blind spots lately before I take an action or speak? What are the places in me that just don’t know enough yet, or the parts of my heart and soul where I don’t like to look because its inconvenient or I’m in a hurry, but that might harm me nonetheless? What assumptions am I making about others that may or may not be true? Ask someone you trust to show you your blind spots, like Eli did for Samuel, like Philip did for Nathanael. Remember though, God sees all of your heart – the visible and the hidden – and loves it all, all the time.

Yours in Christ,

Rev’d Jen