Greetings and good morning, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This morning we seek to understand the meaning of spiritual blindness.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Spiritual Blindness
"For this people’’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." Matthew, Chapter 31, Verse 15
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Brothers and sisters, in today's broadcast, we want to share some thoughts on the problem of spiritual blindness. We shall examine its definition, causes, manifestation, and corrective action. As always we shall use a material analogy to help us grasp the spiritual value and meaning of this most devastating spiritual illness.
The eye is a marvelous organ of the human body--it allows light to be processed by the brain, where it is interpreted by the brain as sight. In its truest sense, any object reflects light into the eye where there is a lens that focuses and passes the light to the retina. There, special cells called rods and cones are activated and transmit the signal to the visual cortex of the brain, where the object is perceived by the light that is reflected. Sometimes there is insufficient light and thus no visual images are perceived (e.g., in the dark).
Sometimes diseases of various kinds can damage the eye, its nerve pathway, or the part of the brain that interprets what we see. In certain cases we can repair the damage by replacing certain parts of the eye such as the cornea or the lens. Sometimes the lens becomes cloudy due to cataracts and prevent sufficient light to pass to activate the rods and cones of the retina cells. Sometimes the blood supply to the eye can become damaged (as seen with diabetes). In certain cases, this blood supply can be corrected by laser therapy that seals the leaky vessels that are damaging the eye.
In other cases, sometimes we use artificial magnifiers to correct problems with the lens such as near-sightedness or far-sightedness; or sometimes the eyeball itself is slightly deformed, causing blurred vision. Glasses can partially correct this problem. Sometimes a person is born with defective vision that cannot be corrected; and there is always the problem of accidents where someone who had vision lost it. There are many other causes of eye damage, but the take-home lesson is that there are various causes of material blindness. Now having given an idea of material blindness, we are now ready to tackle spiritual blindness.
Do you ever get the feeling that you are not here and now, but there and then? Spiritual blindness refers to one who is unable to perceive spiritual reality. It manifests itself in the mortal life as a preoccupation with material reality to the exclusion of the pursuit of spiritual values and meanings. Sometimes this may be due to lack of adequate development. Even in the material analogy, the child has to reach a certain stage of development before the eye can function properly (shortly after birth). When the spiritual child is born, she is able to perceive spiritual reality but she must open her eyes in order to see. (Even the material child can not see if it does not open his eyes.) With the spiritual child, this eye is the eye of faith.
The eye of faith allows the soul to take in the light of spiritual values, process it, and send it to the mind, where its meanings are interpreted. The eye of faith must be used in order to comprehend the spiritual values and meanings of the relationship of the Father with his children, for faith is the substance of that which is hoped for (potential) and the evidence of that which is not seen (actual). When a soul cannot comprehend spiritual values and meanings, it is blind because the spiritual object of vision is the comprehension of spiritual values and meanings. (In the material life, we see material objects.) When we comprehend spiritual values, we discover their meanings. The progressive unification of these two components is the progressive comprehension of the divine presence.
As we continue to gain experience by using the eye of faith, even as the material child does with the things of the material world, we are able to see more and more of the divine values and meanings of the spiritual world. As we become skilled in recognizing the values and meanings of the spiritual, our capacity for increased sight grows. The ever-increasing recognition of spiritual values and meanings is spiritual growth in the relationship with the Father. As we continue to grow, our understanding of the Father grows.
But there is spiritual blindness as well as material blindness. The birth of the soul is delayed sometimes because of lack of desire. Other times, the soul can become so preoccupied with the material pursuits of this world that the faith vision has no opportunity to develop and function. The desire to see in the face of not being able to see causes the faith vision to develop and grow. To a large degree, this growth and development depends on uncertainty and insecurity, which stimulate faith in the material world.
Uncertainty and insecurity appear in the lives of all mortal children. But some of these children--rather than allowing this uncertainty and insecurity to propel them to seek for a higher level of security and certainty in the spirit--only redouble their efforts to find certainty and security in the material world. This is a losing game, and as more and more effort is applied to this unrewarding task of trying to create material certainty and security in an uncertain and insecure environment. The degree of spiritual blindness continues to escalate, and when it reaches supreme levels, the capacity is lost for developing the spiritual eye of faith.
And then we have the phenomena of those who have the capacity for faith but nevertheless rebel against the Father’’s rule. These rebels against the Father’’s divine values and meanings destroy their faith vision by insisting on rejecting that which they are not mature enough to see without the eyes of faith. These are the ones who fit the quote at the top of the page: "there is none so blind as those who will not see." When spiritual blindness occurs in this situation, there is no restoring of the faith vision after it goes beyond a certain point of damage. And without spiritual insight, spiritual vision, the spiritual child cannot function in the spiritual world, and has entered a state that is indistinguishable from non-existence.
Spiritual blindness blinds the soul to the beautiful personality realities of the Father. The meanings and values of truth, beauty, and goodness are non-existent in the personal experience of the blinded soul. And the greatest spiritual sight of all is missed--the vision of the endless love that the Father has for his children. What a pity! What a waste and tragedy for the experiential soul to destroy the only tool that is available to comprehend eternal values and meanings of the absolute, infinite and merciful Father.
And now we share a way to avoid spiritual blindness--by yielding to the urge in our souls for spiritual security. By thus yielding, we are transported to the faith realm, where we can clearly discern the meanings and values of the Father’’s love for us. By maintaining a positive, whole-hearted attitude and supreme loyalty towards truth, we ensure that no cataracts of impurities cloud our faith vision. With clarity, we can see forever without ever worrying about not being able to comprehend the progressive values of divine sonship. As we pursue this eternal journey of the discovery of spiritual values and meanings, our souls are raptured with the joy and pleasure of understanding. Spiritual blindness is a bad thing. We should avoid it as if our lives depend on it because it does. Use your faith!
This concludes today's message on understanding meaning of spiritual blindness. We hope you find something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day.
Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry.
Spiritual Blindness
Your Kingdom Come; Thy Will Be Done!
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Spiritual Blindness
