The Blind Man

Put that away
and come and sit down.
I’ll tell you what happened
today in town.
It was incredible.
Everyone’s talking about it.
OK, OK
I’ll start at the beginning.

Remember that man we passed
the other day
that we all thought was blind?
Well he isn’t anymore.
And people are saying now
that he never was.
I don’t know what to think.
I mean, he was blind
wasn’t he?
You thought so too
didn’t you?
No doubt about it.
But now he’s walking around
seeing.
How can that be?
I know, I know.
I’ll start at the beginning.

We were all there
at our meeting
as usual,
carrying out our Sabbath duties
when there was this commotion
and a crowd of people
burst in
pushing this man in front of them.
They were all talking
at once
so it took a while
to get some order
and find out
what had happened
and how come he could now see.

You’ll never believe
what he said.
I mean, far fetched
or what!
OK, OK
I’ll tell you.

He said someone
had put mud on his eyes
and when he had washed it off
he could see.
I thought, if all he had to do
was wash
then why hadn’t he done it before.
But then
someone brought up the point about
the mud.
That focused our minds.
After all,
you can’t go around
making mud
on the Sabbath.
Everyone knows that.
So what was going on?

Well, everyone had their own views
and we all started
to argue.
It got quite heated,
because if we let this go
then what next?
Rules are rules
and if they start to be broken
willy nilly
then that results in
chaos.
We decided we needed
to know
who
had started this
so we could put a stop to it
before it got out of hand.

No, I don’t think
we were over-reacting.
We all need to know
where we stand.
That is why we have rules.
And if we have rules
we have to abide by them
otherwise there is anarchy
and then where would we be?
Anyway, don’t interrupt.

While we were debating this
the man was just standing
staring at us.
I don’t know if it was just
that he hadn’t actually
seen people before
but he did look rather
disapproving.
I think that might have been
why some of my colleagues
rounded on him
so vehemently,
especially when he claimed
this man was
a prophet.

Anyway,
to cut a long story short
his parents were sent for.
I have to admit
I felt a bit sorry for them.
I wouldn’t have liked
to have suddenly been dragged in
and grilled like they were.
But they confirmed
that their son
had been born blind.
I know, I know,
I’ve never doubted it before
so why now?
And it would have been much easier
for them to say he wasn’t.

No, just be patient.
I’ve nearly finished.
The man was still around somewhere
so we called him back
and started asking him
the same questions.
Who?…How?…What?
I think
he was getting a bit sick
of it all
because he got quite stroppy
and asked us
if we wanted to become
disciples!
That was the last straw
for some of them
and they had him
thrown out.

But
there was something
about him;
about his story.
I can’t get his last words
out of my mind.
‘If this man were not
from God
he could do nothing!’

I’ve been thinking
about them
all the way home,
trying to dismiss them.
but I can’t.
They won’t go away.

What if he is right?…

© Kathleen Wilks.