It's one thing to speak of walking with love, light and wisdom in mind but it's quite another to navigate one's way through a shopping mall in total darkness. That happened to me this week and frankly, it affected me profoundly.
On this particular occasion I had attended the annual awareness event for our local Canadian Council for the Blind. Upon arrival I was told I'd been chosen to be escorted down the main causeway of our city's shopping mall and into a large retail outlet. Sounds easy except that prior to starting out I was blindfolded and given a white cane to aid me in the process. My escort was great but no amount of coaching and consulting made up for the fact that I could see absolutely nothing. "So this is how it feels," I mused.
Relying solely on my guide, I began choosing items for purchase. After the first or second item I found myself agreeing to almost anything, simply wanting to get the job done. At that point my only wish was to head back to the starting gate and regain my vision.
It was when approaching the cashier, however, that I experienced the most difficult of challenges. While the young lady taking "my" money greeted my guide, she totally ignored me. She chatted with my guide but failed to acknowledge my presence and we left with no recognition that I'd even been there. There was not even a hello or goodbye to prove that I'd filled a space in the aisle, not one indication that I even existed. I'm not sure what was worse, the inner sadness or the physical darkness.
"… Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly."
May others see Jesus' love through me!
