Most of us have heard of the Braille system of printing and writing used by the blind. In several public places you will even see room numbers printed in Braille to the side of the door. Since I have eye problems and could someday be blind, I have often put my fingers over those Braille numbers and tried to tell the differences between them. Perhaps it is because I am not versed in the system at all, but I find it difficult to feel any pattern to those raised dots. Maybe it's one of those things that becomes easier when you actually need it because it has certainly been used to great effect by millions of blind people.
Braille was invented by Louis Braille, a Frenchman born on January 4, 1809, in Coupvray, France. Louis invented the system when he was only 15 years old! He was not born blind but became blind in one eye in an accident with a stitching awl in his father's harness making shop when he was three. The eye became infected, and the infection spread to the other eye, causing blindness in both. He attended a regular school until he was 10, learning by listening. Then he received a scholarship to the National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris. While there he learned a 12 dot cryptography system from an army officer name Charles Barbier. By the time he was 15, he had developed a similar but simpler system using only 6 dots, which could be read by using only one index finger. It was introduced to his classmates in 1824 and used by them for several years. Then a new director arose at the Institute and, in true bureaucratic style, he "banned it in 1840 because he was afraid that there would be no need for sighted teachers if everyone who was blind could read as a result of using Braille." Louis continued his education and actually taught at the same school. He was forced to retire because of tuberculosis and died two days after his 43rd birthday on January 6, 1852.
Jesus dealt with all sorts of blind people. Some were healed of their physical blindness, such as the man in John 9 who was born blind, but it was those who were spiritually blind who upset him the most. For judgment came I into this world, that they that see not may see; and that they that see may become blind. Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said unto him, Are we also blind? Jesus said unto them, If you were blind, you would have no sin: but now you say, We see: your sin remains, John 9:39-41.
The prophets also talk about spiritual blindness. Listen, you deaf ones! Take notice, you blind ones! My servant is truly blind, my messenger is truly deaf. My covenant partner, the servant of the LORD, is truly blind. You see many things, but don’t comprehend; their ears are open, but do not hear(Isa 42:18-20). It isn’t just that some people cannot comprehend God’s word—they blind themselves to it when they do not want to see what it says.
Peter also mentions people who are spiritually impaired in 2 Pet 1:9. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins (2Pet 1:9). And then we have Paul: But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God(2Cor 4:3-4). And John as well: But the one who hates his fellow Christian is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes(1John 2:11). You can find more passages about spiritual blindness than any of the other senses.
We really do not need a system like Braille to see and understand God's Word. What we need is an open mind and heart, one that wants to comprehend what God would have us do. And that will not happen until we open those spiritual eyes as wide as possible, seeing, as James mentions, what is in the mirror and not forgetting what we see (James 1:23-24), but doing our best to change. But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he will be blessed in what he does (Jas 1:25).
Be careful when, in a spiritual discussion, you find yourself uttering the words, “I just can’t see that.” It may be that you have become spiritually blind.
They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern(Isa 44:18).
Information from the Foundation for Blind Children and the Imperial County (California) Office of Education.
Dene Ward
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