On Blindness: Anderson Cooper & Me

Last updated on: March 12, 2015 at 4:51 pm by Lisa M. Hendey

On Blindness: Anderson Cooper & Me 2015-03-12T16:51:39-07:00 Lisa M. Hendey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Occasionally, a weird thing happens to bloggers. We surround ourselves with words day in a day out, reading them, writing them, critiquing them, envying them. They mount up in our heads, pour out on our keyboards, and are more often than you’d expect deleted in fits of despair.

Ask my editor Eileen and she’ll tell you (sweetly of course) that I am rarely at a loss for words. I think I’m known in my publishing house for being the most verbose Ave Maria Press author. They tell me to write 50K and I give them 75+.

And yet, every once in a while, writers’ block sets in as happened the past few days. The “funk” coincided with a family trip so I decided to ride it out, pray through it, and let God take the wheel. I’m still not positive what I was supposed to learn, but I did note the recurrence of a particular theme over the past few days:

Blindness.

“Blindness?” you ask.

Yes, blindness.

I don’t know what it’s supposed to mean but it kept coming up over the past few days. Perhaps I was conditioned to watch for the theme. Late last week, I was in conversation with a sight-impaired Twitter friend on the topic of books for the blind. The night after our online chat, I actually dreamed I was blind. I’m not a big, “remember and tell your dreams” kind of person. I love sleep and typically just roll over and forget my dreams. But this one was frightening, and memorable.

The next day, while visiting Los Angeles, I spotted not one, but two blind people crossing busy city streets at different intersections. This is likely not a huge deal for those of you who live in big cities, but in my part of suburbia it’s rare enough that I take note. And pray for them.

The third instance came this morning. Still subject to the “What to write” blues, I went trolling around online to various news sources, including CNN where I was met with the headline “Anderson Cooper on Going Blind”. I missed Anderson’s temporary blindness due to sunburned eyes, but the third instance in as many days left me pondering the message I was missing.

I still don’t know. But as I often do when I am stumped by things like this, I went to scripture where I found the following:

And he told them a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.

Interesting to note that this particular section of Luke follows immediately on the heels of my favorite verse, Luke 6:38, after which this blog is named.

Honestly, this set of verses has troubled me on more than one occasion. I think I’m especially prone to speaking when I have a beam in my eye. Perhaps most frequently it happens in my own home, with those I love most. I want to clarify in sharing this that I’m not in any way holding myself up as a “teacher” — I most definitely am still in student mode. But I likely do have a tendency to think, “She should totally...” or “He’d be so much better off if…” too frequently when I should be focusing on and repairing my own shortcomings.

During the season of Advent, we are called to prepare our hearts to celebrate Christ’s coming at Christmas, but more essentially his Second Coming in glory at the end of time. Today I’m asking myself how to overcome the spiritual blindness in my life that leads me into sin and away from him.

Your turn: Are you subject to “spiritual blindness” or have you discovered a way around it?

Liturgical Calendar

Advent

Blindness

Previous Post

December 7, 2012

Christmas Cheer: Do You Save It for the Season?

Next Post

December 11, 2012 How Sweet It Is!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category @Pontifex Books Catholic Geek Stuff Catholic Moments Family Life Good Measures Liturgical Calendar New Evangelization News Reviews Rwanda Saints Speaking Tanzania Journal Top Catholic Tweets Travel Uncategorized Vocations Yes

Select a Month August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book comes immediately after Acts in the New Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

1 Corinthians Romans Hebrews Galatians