For the tech maniac, it’s a candy store existence in our day. So many developments in so many domains aimed at convenience in everything from seeing-eye, video-alarm, doorbells to talking, grocery-ordering, midnight-raid-scolding refrigerators to garage door closers synced to cell phones (vacationing on Tahiti and forgot to close said door back home in Greenland? No problem. Just a touch of a button does it). Ditto all the other doors and lights in your house and your heating/air conditioning). Some of these gadgets are a step too far, but some, like the blind spot alert installed on rearview mirrors on most late model cars, are blessings. With heavy traffic congestion in metro areas, plus the irritated impatience of many drivers, this little red symbol that lights up to warn of a vehicle where you may not be able to see it, greatly increases safety.
Unfortunately, it isn’t only while driving a car where blind spots create hazards. We often are the least aware of them in ourselves. In our blissful ignorance we can fail to recognize approaching relational storms until they break over our heads. Without the ‘faithful wounds of a friend’ we may be the proverbial bull in the proverbial china shop. In exercising authority in the workplace, those blind spots may be the source of mutiny or the cause of employees quitting in pain or frustration. Many marriages end in divorce primarily because of unaddressed, unacknowledged blind spots. Parents, in that high wire act of raising children, may miss the warning signal that all is not peace and harmony in familyland. Children, sadly, may misinterpret the words and actions of their parents while growing up oblivious to their own areas of blindness and willfulness and stubbornness (remember when parents were considered terminally embarrassing, impossible, and/or stupid – until they weren’t?). It escalates to tragedy when woundings inflicted in youth are not healed, when relationships are not restored. Many adults, even Christian adults, stumble through life with areas of unchecked brokenness negatively impacting their lives. All the while, Jesus’ redemptive, restorative words ring out: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn how to live freely and lightly.” Matt. 11:28-30 MSG. Such a beautiful, love-filled, invitation to children of all ages! See y’all tomorrow, sprung forward to 10 AM EDT, 3 PM FR (for the next two weeks). PD
