Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see. Isaiah 42:18

I was heading to McCall for an early (for me!)  meeting with a prayer group. It was a beautiful autumn morning. The valley held veils of  mist and fog, but the smoke which has shrouded mountain and valley in several counties was gone. I headed into Goose Creek canyon and because I was running a little late, I had to find extra measures of grace and patience for the old truck ahead of me plodding well below the speed limit. Why does it happen like that, I wondered?   Whenever I try to be on time for an appointment either it’s a logging truck chugging up the grade or  some  tailgating guy   six inches from my bumper  trying to pass in the canyon.  I took a slow breath and tried to enjoy the morning sun light slanting through the trees, through  the windshield which I hadn’t bothered to clean since the last trip to Boise.  

But then I entered a curve  where I headed directly into the face of the sun and the road was shadowed by the mountain.  The intense light blinded me.  Momentarily  I couldn’t see the road or anything else. The filthy windshield was a road map   magnifying  the   smeared bugs and dirt from my attempt to use the windshield wipers.  I was literally driving blindly through the curves.

I’d hit a blind spot. And then several more until I got out of the canyon.   It’s a phenomena where the  sun and shadow meet  almost as if they were lined up on top of each other.  Whenever the sun is lower in the sky, often early in the morning or right before sunset those blind spots  are most unpleasant and dangerous.   I knew to  slow down,  sit up a little higher to avoid the sun’s glare and focus on the white fog lines  on the right side of the road … and follow the red reflectors of the slow poke truck ahead. I made it safely and almost on time to my meeting. Afterwards  I headed  straight to a gas station to clean that dirty windshield.

In my journeying with the Lord, there have been many blind spots where suddenly there’s an incident out of the blue and I simply  cannot see the road I’m on.  A person or incident “blindsides us” and it is only the grace of God which keeps us from driving off the cliff.  How can you  safely navigate  through   life’s unexpected  blind spots?  It is by keeping the  wind shield of God’s Word clean of dead things,  by remaining alert and aware of  God’s Presence and trusting in God to help in the shadows  (like the fog lines and the truck’s reflections ahead of my car ).  

There is another kind of blind spot which Jesus addressed specifically with the Pharisees to call  out their hypocrisy. 

³ And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?   ⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:3-5

Jesus said that our  speck in the eye, our blind spot is as large as a tree trunk and yet we can’t see it.  Our perspective is skewered  and self deceptive for how can a blind person see his own blindness? It’s the secret places  where Jesus  hasn’t touched our heart, where a piece of the “old man” hangs out to distort how we see ourselves and others. Our blind spots are where we become vulnerable to the world, the flesh and the devil,  where we fall into sins  of pride, rejection, unfogiveness and  judging others. Jesus’ admonishment is clear. Hypocrite! Look into the mirror of your own soul and take care of business there. And since you can’t see your own blindness, pray that the Holy Spirit can and will do so.  The Spirit may call you to humble yourself by inviting a trusted friend into your life:

“I know I have  blind spots in my life but I can’t see them. Will you help me to see them and expose them to the  light and life of Jesus?”