This lady's married life was no better. Given away to an alcoholic husband, in a family which worshipped wealth, she was just a slave in his house. The five children she bore soon followed the family tradition of enjoying and loving the goods of this world. They had no time or attention to give her.

This is not an isolated case. In St Mark's Gospel there is the incident of a blind man being healed by Jesus. If we examine this incident carefully, we shall see three stages of the healing process. Jesus holds him by the hand and takes him out of the village. If God's grace must work in an individual or society, there must be a favourable atmosphere. If there is the dominion of the powers of darkness, we should get out of the accursed place.

When we cannot change the circumstance, we must flee from the place of danger. Nehemiah says, "Then those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors"( Neh 9:2). Those who are supporters and tempters of sin are people to be abhorred-the bribe-taking boss, the corrupt official, the money-grabbing business man-are all such people to the one seeking conversion. For a converted alcoholic those who still are under the bondage of such vices are people to be shunned and the circumstance to be avoided. That must have been why Jesus told the blind man, healed of his infirmity, "Do not even enter the village." Satan and all his works and pomps must be given up altogether. The second stage is noteworthy: Jesus spread spittle and lay his hands on his eyes. "Do you see anything?" he then asked. The man answered, "I can see people, but they look like trees, walking" (Mk 8:23-24).

Trees are alive. They grow and decay. But that is only on the material side. They have no feelings, no emotions; they cannot love, or receive love; they have no mind, soul or desire. But men are different. They have the capacity and the desire to love and be loved as they have a soul and mind.

The point is this: in many families today people are living like trees. The husband sees the wife as a slave or an object to satisfy his physical needs. For some it is not the wife but the dowry she brings that matters. Who knows the human desires and needs of the wife? She is just like a tree. A walking tree.

How many are the suffering parents who do not get the love and company of their children. They live as rejected people. Children consider them as trees. They ask. "What is wanting to you here? Aren't you given everything you need? Please remain quiet somewhere". These children see their parents as walking trees. What the parents need is not wealth and food alone. But the love and company of their children. Those parents who do not understand the goodness and love in the hearts of their children and ride roughshod over their feelings, do not grasp the truth that these children, a part of themselves, are not trees.

The official who will not consider the pain, the difficulties and circumstances of their subordinates, look at them as just logs of wood. Those in authority often adopt heartless measures towards those in the ranks as if they were but trees in the wood meant to be cut down for fuel for the fire.

Let us now enter the third stage. Jesus again placed his hands on the blind man's eyes. The man looked carefully and regained his sight. He saw everything clearly. We too must look at things clearly.

The second and third stages of the blind man's healing highlight the difference between eyesight and outlook. Satanic bondage and our selfishness are inter- twined and are factors that influence our outlook on men and matters. The blind man saw people as trees. But once Jesus touched him his sight became bright and clear. It is God who gives this gift of sight. Then we see as God sees. All other seeing is distorted, partial and personal.

To see another as God sees is true sight. It was Satan who gave false knowledge and made us blind. "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate" (Gen 3:6). All that is good to see may not be good in itself. Cain looked on his brother Abel as an enemy. He therefore counter-questioned God, "Am I my brother's keeper?"(Gen 4:9). The wife of Potiphar could see Joseph, the keeper of Pharaoh's conscience and chosen by God as the patriarch of generations to come, only as a sturdy, young man desirable to satisfy her base emotions.

King David, chosen by God to reign in justice and righteousness on the throne of Israel, while strolling on the balcony of his palace, cast lustful eyes on a bathing beauty. He could see her only as an object to satisfy his worldly desires. He should have seen her as his sister and as the wife of the devoted and loyal warrior Uria who was fighting to preserve the life of his king (cf 2 Sam11:1 ff).

Jesus gave us a parable to discern who is our neighbour (Lk 10:25-37). The man attacked by robbers lay on the street. The priest who came by walked past. He saw but did not see properly. To him the unfortunate man was either dead or dying . The Levite too went by but did not look carefully. But the Samaritan looked carefully, allowed the wounded man to enter into the sanctuary of his heart. And his heart whispered: "It is not a tree but a man who is half dead. I must help him to be fully alive." He got off his donkey, poured wine and oil into his wounds , took him to an inn to be nursed back to life.

Dear brother, you who do not know the pain of your wife sleeping beside you, remember, half her life is in your hands. If you do not make up for the harsh treatment you gave her, by your consoling love, are you not treating her as a tree? The wife who suffocates the husband, who has been toiling all day long in problem-ridden situations, with complaints and dissatisfaction, must remember her husband is not a tree but a man.

It is not enough to see workers and subordinates as rungs in the ladder of success to help you rise in your business. They are people not trees! While several lakhs of unorganized workers, who have no one to procure justice for them, are struggling, orgainsed labour unions and officials are clamouring for more and more remuneration. The wealth of this world is God's-given for all. When a few manage to get the lion's share, the many get only a little. Hence the economic inequality. What is stored in the barns of the wealthy is the daily bread of the poor man. Open your eyes, dear friend, and look carefully!

The trade unions which fight to be paid for work not done, for illegal rights, striving to destroy public property and lives in the name of revolution, must open their eyes and look carefully. How many families are reduced to poverty when corruption reigns supreme to promote vested interests! Are not factories that have declared lockouts, fields lying barren and unharvested crops, silent witnesses to such stark facts! It is not the colour of the flag waved by someone that should guide us but the voice of God, the inspiration of his Spirit. If the Lord has forbidden you even to enter the village, you must obey his word, run away from sin as from a serpent.
 
 

Lord, hold my hand and lead me out of darkness and from diabolical bondage. Spread the saving spittle of your grace on my sightless eyes. Anoint my wounded mind with your grace, visit me as I shut myself up in the dark fortress of my own outlook. Touch again the eyes gone blind by the wisdom of this world. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and lead my steps. Give me the grace to see people, situations and, above all, you my God, with a clear vision. Amen.