While teaching and coaching in West Texas, I had the grand opportunity to meet Todd. He was a very amiable young man, full of life and vigor; always grateful, funny, and kind. Todd would greet you daily, tell you about the latest news, and often surprise you with a current interest in little-known facts. Truly amusing! At the time, I worked with the Special Needs population in Abilene Public Schools, and Todd was one of my charges for the 9th Grade. Todd was legally blind, but for anyone egressing the classroom for the first time, he could not have been a student assistant in charge of… everything! Todd had been diagnosed with Optic Nerve Atrophy, which caused him to take in various specks the world had to offer, but to me, he could see the world better than most. I often heard him ask, “Mr. GWEEM, when are you taking us to the ballgame?” I am not smart, so I would ask him and the other children, “What do you expect to see?” His response was always the same: “The game silly!” It’s amazing all the things a blind man can see. I had taken my vision of what the children NEEDED to be able to accomplish physically and watered it down to what a “sighted” person can often misconstrue as the truth. Todd and his cohorts SAW more than I.
The focus of sight is a repetitive venue throughout Scripture. For example, God asked His people to witness His immense power over their enemies as He led them to Glory beginning in Egypt, “You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 7:3-4, NKJV). Our Heavenly Father clearly stated that Egypt would not obey the God of Heaven in what they heard and witnessed from Heaven. Neither would His people after being delivered in many miracles, wonders, and signs (Psalm 106:6-7). This habit even facilitated the blinding of those during the time of Jesus unto their destruction (Matthew 13:15). On the other hand, a few, a chosen few, received the goodness of God and one the victory (Mark 10:51-52).
I am not suggesting Todd was a modern-day Blind Bartimaeus. I am simply constructing a young man’s desire to SEE, and even if he could not physically see, he still comprehended what was happening around him. Abilene Schools allowed us to attend the Texas Rangers contest on a steamy-hot-sweaty day in July. Although Todd never saw the opening pitch, he knew exactly when to say, “Play Ball!” God has left us His Word. In them we can find Grace and Mercy…the peace of God (Romans 5:1). We can see where salvation lies “in Christ alone (2 Timothy 2:10). Like Blind Bartimaeus, we can see whom to call upon for our freedom from sin and live (Matthew 6:8). Maybe it is time for others to get into the game and play ball. No one can benefit from being spiritually blind.
Think about these things,
Archie R. Green
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