The Man Born Blind (II)

When you had longed for sight, you never dreamed
that there’d be things you’d wish you hadn’t seen.
Your mother’s face was crumpled like a child’s. 
The elders’ eyes—how angry they had been!
No miracle, it seems, without a scar.
Those images are yours, a secret sadness
that will companion you now you are shunned.
That fate is worse than sightlessness, perhaps.
Who knows? You can’t think straight now anyway, 
not when events have—twice!—upended you 
in quick succession. You stumble on alone,
unsure of where to go or what to do.
But Jesus heard that you had been cast out, 
and you, beloved—you are sought and found.

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As I’ve mentioned before, the story in John 9 of the man born blind is one of my very favourite Bible stories, and the opening half of verse 35, “Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him…” (ESV) is for me, somehow, one of the most beautiful and poignant lines in Scripture. So although I’ve written a poem based on this account before, I’ve been drawn back to it again. Life can be painful and bewildering, and even the granting of some of our deepest desires sometimes leads to things that are harder or more bitter than we could have imagined, but in it and through it all, we are those who are seen and loved, who are sought and found, and who therefore, like our nameless friend, believe and worship the Christ.