By Cathy Hird
There's a story about Jesus walking the streets of Jerusalem after an argument with powerful leaders about their unwillingness to see the hand of God reforming their community. When he came upon a man who was born blind, he placed mud on the man's eyes and sent him to wash in a pool called Siloam.

Imagine. When the cool water washed the dirt away, the man could see. His first sight was light sparkling on water. Then, he would have seen his own reflection for the first time. We can imagine the man getting to his feet looking at the stone buildings that his hand had touched. We can see him looking up and seeing blue sky for the first time. He learned to interpret the rainbow of colour around him. As joy and wonder filled him, he could touch the hands of friend and family, and see the colour of their eyes, the shape of their faces.

Jesus gave him an overwhelming gift of grace.

We are given the same world as that blind man, but we take what we see for granted. Imagine what it would be like to see what is around you for the first time?

After days of winter snow or spring rain, a clear blue sky lifts our spirit almost as if we see it for the first time. We are accustomed to looking at our face in the mirror as we arrange our hair, shave, brush our teeth. The new things we see--from sunburn to acne to wrinkles and moles--do not please us, but it is a gift to see our face, to glimpse what others see when they look at us.

As the man who had been born blind began to absorb the sight of things around him, people took him to have his gift blessed. But the city leaders were already upset with Jesus. They had pressed him hard arguing that he was not a true descendant of Abraham or that he had a demon. They refused to see the hand of God at work through him.

(Reading the gospel stories, we often forget that the arguments Jesus had were with specific people in a particular context, which included collusion with the Roman Empire. I would argue that Jesus disagreed with particular interpretations of Mosaic Law that enabled power and privilege. In most cases he did not condemn the laws of Moses but the way people used them to increase their own wealth or position.)

While the man born blind found grace in the gift Jesus gave him, the leaders refused to see the power of God at work. Therefore, the gift of sight showed him the divisions in his community. Grace helped him see the true nature of his society.

When he said, "I was blind, but now I see," they banished him from the community. When Jesus heard this, he invited him to join him so that the man will not be alone.

The hymn Amazing Grace draws on this line "was blind, but now I see," and last week President Obama quoted it several times in his eulogy for the slain in South Carolina. He said that the alleged shooter would have been surprised by the grace he saw when he was welcomed into the circle at the bible study. That man would be surprised at the grace of forgiveness offered by the families of the slain. But the gift of grace Obama emphasized was the way this event has helped America see itself clearly.

As the blind man saw the divisions of his society, so America has been reminded of the stark reality of racism in their land. And here in Canada, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation commission on Indian Residential Schools has shown us the racism entrenched in our country. What Obama did was remind us that this true sight is a gift of grace. It is an opportunity to change. It presses us to move. As painful as it is, true sight can help us to find wholeness.

After that speech, the words of Amazing Grace have a different ring for me: it is not a sentimental resting in God, but a promise that the grace that gives true sight can lead us away from the pain a broken society causes toward wholeness for all.

Cathy Hird is a farmer, minister and writer living near Walters Falls.