Lessons Learned From A Blind Guy...Or is he?

I have a dear friend who is a gifted musician, singer, and anointed worship leader.
He is 65 years old, single, and has an incredible sense of humor.

And he is blind.

Although he is greatly independent, he still requires help with everyday tasks, such as getting to a store and finding the correct item.  Try this:  close your eyes the next time you stand in front of the entire section of shampoos and grab the one you desire.  No, not the one that's twice as expensive as your brand.  Not the one that will turn your baby fine hair to strings.  Be careful you don't knock over the 74 other bottles the stocker placed 'just so' on the shelf by the way.  See what I mean?

Or have a seat at a brand new restaurant.  You're handed a menu (out of habit on the part of the server, don't judge her) and you are asked "Have you decided?"  Yes, you could just ask for a burger or eggs and bacon to make your order simple for her.  But what if you really wanted something specific, like the Aloha Turkey Burger special your friend told you about yesterday?  Unless you ask for a braille menu which several places do NOT provide, or unless your friend who drove you there reads you the menu....yep, you're getting eggs and bacon.

How about entering a new building for the first time.  Hmmm, now there's a wall---WHACK!---oh yes, my forehead just told me that, because you see the individual who brought me walked away to greet someone on the other side of the room.  We won't mention the doors that led to closets or heaven help him, stairs!

So....walking a mile in his moccasins (or just an aisle or two at Wal Mart!) can stir up your empathy, compassion and patience to say the least.  Or at least it should.

Mind you, my friend with his sense of humor manages to weather such events regularly, even relieving the guilt and embarrassment of the 'guide' he was relying on.  For example, recently he gave me the distinct impression he was in dire need of the restroom while visiting our townhouse for the first time, so I led him to the hall and said "Door on the left!"  He entered and yelled back, "Mary, where's the light switch?!"  Naturally I ran back to the hall in a panic regretting I hadn't turned on the light first for my blind friend......riiiiiight.  He slammed the door in my face, chuckling behind it.

Still, I know there are days when my friend tires of his state.  And he longs for the ability to see what our beautiful granddaughter truly looks like.  He was there at her birth, singing gently as he rocked her.  Or the beautiful grounds of his current residence....would he be inspired to write an anthem of praise to the Creator if he actually saw His handiwork all around him?  Possibly.

But then, he has already written some beautiful songs that have blessed so many.  They speak of the beauty, the majesty, the compassion of a loving Lord.  As his amazing tenor voice swells with the chords on his keyboard, you hear the words "He is the Mender, He will give you Life!" and all of a sudden that hopeless situation is not so hopeless.

'How can this be?' you ask yourself after hearing a blind man sing with all his heart in complete confidence, that yes, Jesus is a Mender of anything broken. 'How can he do that?!'  

Well you see, my friend has something better than physical sight.  He sees with his heart.

His favorite thing to do is grab your hand and say "How's your heart?"  I love watching the reaction of people when he does that.  Especially if they hurriedly answer "Oh, just fine!" .....and he doesn't let go, sometimes asking again "So, how's your heart?"   They may nervously laugh and drop his hand quickly, puzzled at his insight to their hasty answer.  Or more often I see them sigh heavily, and begin to share what's troubling them.  He loves to just start praying right then and there for them, usually resulting in a thankful hug.

Its even more amazing how he can 'describe' a person after shaking their hand and being in the room for only a moment.  "He's such a gentle soul."  "She's so childlike in her spirit, so giving."  Or at times its not so positive.  "Man, that young woman is scary!  She's so dark, so much anger and ugliness." The latter aptly described to the 't' a gal that was full of hatred of men for the abuse she had endured her whole life, struggling with the occult and her face showed it all, even though her voice was sweet as molasses.  My non- sighted friend was completely unaware of all this, yet he 'saw' it just by holding her hand in greeting for the first time.

I've asked God for that same 'heart vision'.  If I truly want to be His representative on planet earth, don't I want to see others as He does?  The old man is abrasive and rude....or is he defending himself because of the abuse and apathy he's received his whole life?   She can't keep her mouth shut, ever! Or is it a cry for attention which really says "I am NOT invisible!  I'm not worthless!  I have something to contribute to this life!"   Like my friend, I need to grab their hand and say "How's your heart, really?" even if its only in my mind prayerfully to myself.  I want to see them as He does.

Something else my so-called sightless friend has taught me is how to maneuver through unfamiliar territory.  In recent years he learned the fine art of using his stick, which is wielded like a ray gun, taking out your shins should you foolishly get in front of the man.  Unlike the gentle tap-tap-tap of the one you may have seen in the movies used to slowly feel their way down a sidewalk, my confident blind buddy whips his fold-out stick in the fashion of a ninja and takes off with or without you!  The end of the tool appears to have radar as he waves it back and forth, up and down, sensing the boundaries the unseen world puts before him.  He really trusts that stick.

Do we trust God to guide us?  Comparing the Almighty to my friends stick is not the issue here....
What is important is what do we put our trust in when things are unseen, unfamiliar, even frightening?   Are we ready to stand up confidently, follow His gentle but firm leading, knowing we may hit a dip or two, but still walking on to our destiny?

I've noticed too, my friend will slowly lead out with his foot, feeling for the curb or step.  If you are his guide for the moment, he asks you to just hold his elbow and gently pull back or prod forward, not DRIVING OR DRAGGING his whole body around the area!

That reminds me of how the Holy Spirit is so patient with me....He's never pushing me or forcing me one way or another.  He simply taps my spirit, waiting for my cooperation in His guidance and we progress.  That is, IF I choose to let Him lead.  (Sadly, I've paid the consequences of NOT listening to Him and found myself doing a faceplant on the asphalt of life, sigh.)

But truly, I think the greatest lesson my friend has shown me through the years is when you're in the dark....really, really in the dark moments of your life, get in the presence of Jesus and worship.

My friend was married to a wonderful woman named Sandee.  She went home to be with the Lord several years ago now, but I can still see her beautiful blue eyes twinkle, as she'd tell her husband to "sing that song, honey, she needs to hear it."  My broken self would lie on their livingroom couch in a puddle and he would begin to play and sing on his shiny black, perfectly tuned baby grand piano.  Old hymns of faith; songs our choir had sung that brought healing to the people so many times, new worship choruses he had written in the middle of the night....song after song.  As the tears washed my pain away, Sandee would eventually come over to the couch and leaning over me with that big smile, she'd say "All better now?  Jesus is good, isn't He?"

To this day, when life has rendered me to feel hopeless, prayerless, and even tearless, I can lay down on the couch, put on my favorite worship and let Him hold my heart, until it can beat in time with His cadence of Truth again.  Oh, and I can hear my friend sing those words....

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the Light of His glory and grace....

My friend, Dave Dobler, may be physically blind.  But my, oh my, does he see well.


 "You're blessed when you get your inside world--your mind and heart--put right.  Then you can see God in the outside world."  Matthew 5:8 MSG