On the Blindness of Man

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, "For judgment I am come into this world; that they that see not might see: and that they who see might be made blind." Our Saviour uttered these words with relation to the man who was born blind, and to whom He granted sight of the soul, after having restored to him the sight of the body, in the presence of the Pharisees, whom this miracle ought to have enlightened, and who were only made blinder than ever by it. The hidden meaning of this sentence of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is very deep, and is meant for us all: let us try to penetrate it, by the help of His grace.

We are all born blind as a deplorable consequence of original sin. We neither know God nor ourselves. We are in a profound ignorance as to our destination; that it to say, as to the one thing which is indisputably the most important of all, or rather, the one thing which alone is truly interesting to us. We neither know in what true happiness consists, nor what steps we must take to attain it. This ignorance is a fact to which the whole universe bears witness. We have only to remember what was the state of the world before the coming of Jesus Christ, and what is still the state of the nations to whom He is unknown. But this ignorance is not the greatest evil. We are blind, and we do not know that we are blind. Born with this disease, we think ourselves in perfect health; and we should never have known anything about our blindness if God-made Man had not come to deliver us from it.

The greatest of all evils is to think that we see when we do not see. This was the evil of the pretended wise men of paganism, and of the proud Pharisees of Judaism.

Now, although Christianity has enlightened us in some degree on essential matters, it has not entirely done away with our blindness. As long as our trust in our own spirit, as long as our self-love reigns in us, so long we are blind in many respects, both as regards God and ourselves. As regards God: we understand nothing of His ways; we entertain quite false ideas as to holiness; we know not in what true virtue consists. As regards ourselves: the real main-spring of our dispositions is unknown to us; we can see the faults of others clearly enough, but our own faults are hidden from us; our judgment, in all that regards ourselves, is nothing but a delusion. And as this blindness affects the soul, the soul is not conscious of it, and cannot be; for how can she see by her own light that which she sees not?

This evil is very great, but it is not without remedy; it is not hopeless. The Divine light can disperse this blindness easily, when it is not voluntary. But how can the Divine light disperse a blindness to which we will not acknowledge? How can it enlighten those proud souls who think they see everything, and who reject it because they imagine they have no need of it? What means can it take to penetrate those perverse spirits, led away by a thousand prejudices, obstinate in not seeing what it tries to show them, and determined to see things only in a false light which they have created for themselves? This is a very common disease with pious persons; and because the root of it is pride, it opposes to Divine grace an obstacle which humility only can overcome, and which humility even does not always overcome.

Jesus Christ is the Light of the world: He came to cure our blindness. But in doing this He exercises a kind of judgment which is full of goodness for some, and of justice for others. He gives sight to those who see not, and He blinds those who see. What do these words mean? Do they mean that amongst men, before our Lord enlightens them, there are some who see, and others who do not see? No: all are equally blind. But some, enlightened by grace as to their sad state, acknowledge humbly that they are blind; they implore our dear Lord earnestly and with importunity for their cure; and to them He will give sight, and He will never cease to grant them that sight as long as they make a good use of the light He has granted them, and allow themselves to be entirely guided by it. Others will not confess that they are blind, and these He will leave in their blindness, until it becomes incurable. Either they attribute to themselves the light they receive from Him, and appropriate it as if it came from themselves, and so, as a punishment, He takes it away from them; or they make a bad use of the light He gives them; they neglect its warnings; they fear it and fly from it; and so most justly do they deserve that He should deprive them of it.

Now, to which of these classes do we belong, and do we wish to belong? Unhappy shall we be if we cleave to the leadings of our own self-will, if we use our own judgment with regard to the ways of God, and act in all things as our own spirit prompts us! God will leave us to ourselves! And what can happen to a blind man who attempts to guide himself but to fall over a precipice! Unhappy also shall we be if we regard as our own the light which God sends us, if we look upon it as our own property, if we are vain of it, if we make use of it only to nourish our pride and presumption! The jealousy of God will never pardon us such a theft; He will take away that light from us; He will never suffer us to usurp His gifts. And finally, unhappy shall we be if we do not draw from the light we receive all the profit which God intends we should draw from it, if we fear to be enlightened as to what He asks of us, because we cannot make up our minds to grant Him all! He will give to others the light He intended for us; and instead of advancing in the way of perfection, we shall fall back.

Let us then imitate the poor blind man in the Gospel: let us be fully convinced that we are always enveloped in darkness, and that of ourselves we have no power to free ourselves from it. Let us say continually to Jesus Christ: "Lord, that I may see! " Give me light, either by your own voice in my soul, or by the voice of him whom You wish to be my guide. If we have to consider anything, let us fear to decide of ourselves; let us fear to act through a natural instinct, through a movement of passion, through prejudice, or human respect; but let us humbly ask of God that He will enlighten us, that He will show us the truth, and give us the strength and courage to follow it. Let us keep our soul in a state of continual dependence upon the Divine light, and let us feel convinced that if God's light leaves us for a single instant, we shall make a false step.

This is not all. Let us give thanks to God for all the light He gives us, acknowledging that it is from Him alone that we receive it. Let us never rely upon our own judgment, or upon the penetration of our own mind. The things of God can only be understood by the spirit of God. He takes pleasure in enlightening simple souls, who are convinced of their own ignorance, and who attribute nothing to themselves; who judge nothing by their own judgment, and who give to God the sole glory of all they know and experience, recognising Him as the Source of all good. O! if we could know how dangerous it is to follow the leading of our own spirit, how much God wishes to humble it, to cast it down, to annihilate it, we should never rest until we had trampled it under foot; we should sacrifice it with the greatest joy; we should think ourselves happy if we could foresee nothing, reflect on nothing, not say a single word, nor have a single thought, nor form a single judgment of ourselves, but in all these things depend entirely upon the Divine guidance; we should endeavour always to keep in our souls a sort of empty space, as it were, for God to fill it as He pleases, and we should carefully suppress every thought which we feel to be our own! Happy is that state of prayer, happy is the entire state of that soul in which the human spirit acts no longer; it is a proof that God has taken entire possession of it, and that He wishes to be the sole Master there. Let us not complain if this state is somewhat painful to human nature. It may be a kind of blindness, but it is a blindness which is produced by the very splendour of the Divine light. We may not be able to see anything distinctly; but by virtue of that same light, when it is necessary, and God wishes us to see, we shall see well enough, we shall know what we have to do. And what can we need more? Is not the repose of our spirit in God far preferable to any exercise of it independent of God?

Finally, let us make use of the light which God gives us, either to know our own misery, and so humble us, or to discern what God wishes us to do, and practise it, or to show us our faults, and help us to correct them. Let us not be afraid of the sight God gives us, because it shows us what perhaps we would rather not see, or nerves us to do what our cowardice shrinks from. Let us not hate the mirror which shows us our own ugliness; let us love the truth which reproves us; and let us believe that after the knowledge of God there is nothing so useful for us as the true knowledge of ourselves. More than this, let us be persuaded that we shall only be raised to the true knowledge of God in proportion as we know and feel our own nothingness. These are the two abysses which "call to each other" according to the expression of Holy Scripture. And blind as we are with regard to these two things, which nevertheless comprise everything for us, let us say with Saint Augustine, "Let me know Thee, Lord, and let me know myself!"

- taken from Manual for Interior Souls, by Father Jean Nicolas Grou