BLIND LEADING BLIND

PRACTICE: Where are your eyes open but you can’t see?

No matter how good your vision is (mine is okay with corrective measures), one cannot see in the dark. Memory of your surroundings may breed comfort for movement in the dark. And although comforting, another set of eyes in the darkness does not improve focus, precision to details or help you stand rooted in any certainty about what surrounds you in the darkness or the route to exit it. Two walking in darkness is simply two walking in darkness.

An incident involving my favorite four- and seven-year-old neighbors illustrates this point. The story goes like this. My family was invited for Sunday dinner. Upon arrival at the backdoor, yelling and screaming was coming from the mother and both girls. The girls had been upstairs playing while their mother finished dinner. The younger convinced the older one to be blindfold and led around the play area. This worked until the 4-year-old decided to lead her sister down the stairs. We knocked and entered the house just as their mother was gathering the fallen pair from the bottom of the stairs. Mom was yelling. The younger one was wailing the loudest and the older one was crying while trying to explain the reason for their current state. The blind was leading the blind.

Although both had traveled those stairs many times, the 7-year-old couldn’t physically see to maneuver them. The younger sibling could see the stairs but didn’t have the motor skills to safely get herself and her sister down them.

How many times have you observed this exact setup? An addicted person relies on the addicted friend for advice on addiction. The depressed seeks the company of another mood challenged individual because misery loves company. The unmotivated seeks an unmotivated workout partner to motivate so they can be in it together.

So, what is a possible solution? When in the dark – seek out light, turn the lights on – often that is enough. When it is not, leave the lights on and get some eyeglasses, someone with proven experience in helping others like yourself. To lead you from the darkness, you want someone who has put up with somethings, gone through somethings and extracted survival tips from it.

Following the advice from the inexperienced (younger sister) is probably not a good idea. Question the advice giver. Otherwise, a crash is probably in your future and the person screaming the loudest will probably not be you. You’ll probably be trying to figure out how you ended up in worse shape than when you started.

Matt.15:14

PONDER THIS THOUGHT—Maya Angelou “We are only as blind as we want to be.”