Epiphany: Blind man of Bethsaida

“I can see people,

  but they look like trees.” (Mark 8:24)

It took some doing, but a couple more Jesus touches, and the blind man of Bethsaida eventually “saw everything clearly.” Sometimes, even a Jesus miracle takes some doing. Jesus takes him by the hand and leads him out of the village. Outside the village, Jesus puts saliva on his eyes (best done outside the village) and lays his hands on him; and then asks, “Can you see anything?” The blind man answers, “Not exactly…” Jesus sticks with him until he “could see everything clearly” (Mk 8:22-30).

That is how it went with me. While my legs were bouncing up and down, the technician, with her eyes darting between my left leg and her computer, sought to dial me in. Not exactly a Jesus miracle—too clunky and technical for that; but, something of a scientific marvel nonetheless. The left side of my Parkinson’s symptoms calmed down; but, not altogether. Tremors keep sneaking in. It is better. We had hoped “all things would become new” (Rv 21:5).

For now, I await left brain surgery to see if it calms down my right side tremors. Maybe we best prepare for “not altogether;” but better. That’s what medical science can do. It can make old things better. Like the blind man who at first only sees in part, it will take another Jesus touch before we “see everything clearly.” One can hear the Apostle’s “For now…” (1Cor 13): “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully… For now, faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”