Blind Spots

We can see them in others – but seem to be pretty oblivious to them in ourselves.  Hence the name.  To imagine that we’re imune from their influence is pretty naive.  However, knowing that you have one, and knowing what it is, are two different things.

Jesus had a wonderful antidote for blind spots in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew chapters 5 through 7).  For example, if we’re all worked up about something someone else has done, we’ll probably find the same characteristic in ourselves. Gasp! The Master by way of a question explains it this way: “why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”

Or if we’re being generous with strangers but stingy with those we know – regardless of whether it’s justified or not, Jesus has this to say: “first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

Or if we know how everyone else should eat or dress, and we’re totally preoccupied with it ourselves, we’re told to “take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.”  Oops.

The most precious answer, perhaps the heart of the Sermon on the Mount, and the absolute solution for uncovering every blind spot, is The Lord’s Prayer.  Yep.  Importunately pondering each phrase, looking inward to see if it meets with agreement, and then living sincerely with its message is a guarantee of dissolving our blind spots.  And helping us to dissolve the blind spots of others as well, gracefully.

That’s a good thing.

Melissa Hayden is a Christian Science practitioner in Salem, OR. You can find more information and additional articles at this link.  If you like what you’re reading, click the “add me” button.