Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again. Mark 10:51
Take a Moment to Ponder
Our text comes from the story of Bartimeus. There is Bartimaeus, a blind beggar wanting desperately a first-hand knowledge of what was happening around him, a crowd of naysayers and obstacle makers, Bartimeus’ cheering party, and Jesus. He wanted to experience life to its fullest. It is what we all want Those who are really down and out. They who feel that life has dealt them an unfair hand. The abused, the handicapped, the orphaned, the other, the neglected and unwanted children. Everyone wants to participate fully in life. We are all eager to experience the good things in life, but we do not always have access to it. Our society suffers from what I call a deep social wanting that allows persons to accept abuse as a way of life because it means they are important to somebody. Further, we have been socialized, that our knowledge must come through an authority figure. That was not Bartimeus, he had a mind of his own. We know Bartimaeus. We have been Bartimaeus at some point in our life.
Take action
To rebuild Hope and Confidence, having sight is important. We must have insight and foresight. To overcome the naysayers. We should seek to remove ourselves from situations where we have no voice. We, as Church, must be the agents who give voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless. We must like Bartimaeus not allow the naysayers to keep us from experiencing our best lives. We must choose to surmount obstacles for a better life where we are transformed and receive fulfillment from the transformation of others.
In living our best lives there is no one size fits all. We all have our limitations and we all have been given different gifts. God’s plan for each of us is different. So while we bear similarities we are all slightly different and so see differently. But we can all have insight, foresight, and discernment just like Bartimaeus.
It doesn’t mean we have blinkers on, nor does it mean that our path will be smooth, but we develop confidence in the one whose work we are doing, that he will not only direct our paths, he will perfect the work we are doing, and our best efforts will reap great rewards.
Confidence requires us to be bold, fearless, and to call out loudly over the naysayers. We live, so we and all who we meet can live best lives in Jesus Christ. Let us now go forth and be a Bartimeus. Let us pray for insight foresight and discernment to rebuild Hope and gain confidence. Let us cry out louder every day Lord I want to see.
Prayer
Creator God in whose image we have been made, we thank you for life and the joy of living. We pray for strength and courage to have the confidence to be able to rebuild hope and confidence so that we can live our best lives and we can lead others to Christ that they too can live their best lives. Grant us grace Lord to do this. We pray in the name of Jesus and for his sake. Amen.
Contributed by Rev Hilda Vaughan
