Saturday, October 24

Jesus took the blind man by the hand…and laid his hands on him. He asked him, “Can you see anything?” And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored.
—Mark 8: 22a, c, 24, 25

Understanding is never complete. If we are following Jesus, our hope is to grow in understanding and consciousness. That is an ongoing process. Given the complexity of life, the mystery of the divine, the limitation of our own facilities, and the shortness of life, we can never reach a place where we can claim full understanding or complete certainty.

We are always trying to deepen our understanding, and we continually need a subsequent touch to see more clearly. Even the truth that we grasp is subject to further correction and refinement. That is the excitement and challenge of growing in the Spirit. St. Paul's says we are to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling."

Though we may never reach a place of full knowing, we can certainly enjoy adequate or sufficient knowledge for living faithfully. I don't know everything, but I know enough to trust. I know that God is good, that love is the strongest thing in the universe, that Jesus reflects in human life the loving character of God, that life comes out of death. That's enough for authentic life.

It's fun to continue to learn and to catch new insight. It can even be fun to discover the limitation of what I formerly held as true, and to change. I accept it as inevitable that I will change, if I am to continue to try to set my mind on divine things rather than on human things.

Guide us along the pilgrimage of faith and open us to an ever-increasing knowledge of you, O God; that we may grow in consciousness and trust, moving confidently toward the infinite mystery of your truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

These Signposts were originally published on explorefaith.org in 2005.