Seeing and believing

Or JN 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.
He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva,
and smeared the clay on his eyes,
and said to him, 
“Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” — which means Sent —.
So he went and washed, and came back able to see.

His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, 
“Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?”
Some said, “It is, “
but others said, “No, he just looks like him.”
He said, “I am.”

They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees.
Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath.
So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see.
He said to them,
“He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”
So some of the Pharisees said,
“This man is not from God,
because he does not keep the sabbath.”
But others said,
“How can a sinful man do such signs?”
And there was a division among them.
So they said to the blind man again, 
“What do you have to say about him,
since he opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”

They answered and said to him,
“You were born totally in sin,
and are you trying to teach us?”
Then they threw him out.

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out,
he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
He answered and said, 
“Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”
Jesus said to him,
“You have seen him, and
the one speaking with you is he.”
He said,
“I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.
In a strange way, this reading reminds me of those "Magic Eye" images that were popular years ago (and you can still find them on the internet today!).  At first a Magic Eye picture looks like abstract art but when you figure out how to focus your eyes beyond the picture, a 3D image is revealed.  It often takes me a while to make the adjustment - some people get upset and frustrated because they can be looking at the same picture (for a long time) and never see the image.  In fact, the harder you try, the more difficulty it is to see the 3D image because the key is c0nsciously relaxing the eye muscles. 

In today's reading, Jesus restores the gift of sight to a blind man and the once-blind man becomes a follower of Jesus.  It's the perfect metaphor for us isn't it?  We are blinded by sin, ego, and attachment but when we reach out to Jesus he rubs our eyes clean so that we can see God's love, compassion and mercy.  We can see past sin instead of getting ensnared by it.  Like those Magic Eye pictures, the harder I try to see and experience God's grace, the more elusive, it can be.  Why is that?  God's grace by its very nature was meant to be received with an open heart.  Very often our own efforts just get in the way.  Like a drowning man sinking deeper and deeper despite his flailing limbs.  If he just floated on his back, he would be able to find his breath.  In a similar fashion, how often do I get in my own way?  I am at my best when I gently receive God's love - and that means less trying and more gently opening my heart and awareness.