In 1992 I had the great pleasure of reading the dissertation of a good friend who was completing his Ph.D. at North Carolina State University. His research had focused on certain microchips that could interpret light patterns on the input side and sent nerve signals on the output side. The result was an implantable device that allowed partially blind animals to see enough to function. Although this research is by now quite outdated and outmoded, it represented a great step in helping the blind among us, and still offers hope today.
There is another form of blindness that unfortunately cannot be cured with microchips or corrective surgery. No, there is a blindness that doesn’t even tough the eyes, but rather affects the heart. It seems that the eyes of the people of this land are wide open and can see anything that happens to them, yet the eyes of their hearts are closed and indeed blinded to the reality of life. There is more to this world and to this thing called living than interpreting light patterns and sounds and smells into an experience; there is meaning and purpose and a most definite end to those taciturn things.
Blindness of the heart comes with several most apparent consequences. It is through this deficiency that we loose sight of our purpose as creatures of God. Instead of fulfilling the roles that God has set us aside for we pursue selfish gain and self-fulfillment. We are blind to the cause that we are called to live for, that is, for God’s glory and for the development of his Kingdom. Also, blindness of the heart causes us to be ignorant of the value of things in life. We loose sight of love, of hope, of joy when our hearts are darkened. We cannot see, hear, nor smell the happy things of a realized humanity – we are left to sink deeper and deeper in to the dark of loneliness and isolation. Finally, with the loss of our heart’s eyes we loose the sense of the riches to which Christ has saved us. We forget the glory of Christ’s righteousness and love. We can be so blinded that we forget our own God.
So what hope is there for a people of blinded hearts? Only the gift of God! Paul prays for his children in Ephesus that they would receive a spirit of wisdom and a revelation as they come to know Christ, that indeed the eyes of their hearts could be opened. It is only though faith in Christ Jesus that people can have the blinders removed from their hearts to see the meaning, joy, and blessed life of those who love him and serve him. May we be such a people who seek the Lord and serve him, having had all blindness removed from our hearts and minds.