Is My Soul Asleep?
- davidwperk
- Mar 13, 2024
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Wednesday, March 13, 2024
The week of the fourth Sunday in Lent
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:
22 They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ 24And the man looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ 25Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
You will find the full text of today’s Gospel at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 955)
AM Psalm 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30; PM Psalm 119:121-144
Gen. 50:15-26; 1 Cor. 12:1-11; Mark 8:11-26
Today we celebrate the Feast of James T. Holly. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
The Spanish poet, Antonia Machado wrote of vision:
Is my soul asleep?
Have those beehives that labor
at night stopped? And the water
wheel of thought,
is it dry, the cups empty,
wheeling, carrying only shadows?
No my soul is not asleep.
It is awake, wide awake.
It neither sleeps nor dreams, but watches,
its clear eyes open,
far-off things, and listens
at the shores of the great silence.*
Is your soul asleep? Are you dreaming about your life and about God? Or are you awake and listening? Are your eyes open? I ask myself these questions regularly. What am I seeing? What am I missing? How awake am I? Just how far removed from reality is my vision? My vision of myself, of those around me, and of God may resemble that of the man in this Gospel, “trees walking.” Other than in stories like “The Lord of the Rings” walking trees don’t exist.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus put saliva on a man’s eyes and touched him in an effort to restore his vision. The man reported that he saw people but they looked like trees walking about. Jesus had to repeat the touch to restore completely his sight.
Machado’s poem expresses the belief that being awake, that seeing, depends on watching for the unseen, what he called being on the shores of the great silence. In the Gospel, seeing depends on repeated touches from Jesus. He repeated himself to his followers, kept re-touching them, but their vision imporoved slowly and partially. Just how do those touches come about in my life?
In the passage for tomorrow, Peter reveals that his understanding of Jesus needs additional touches. He is seeing Jesus “like trees walking.” When Jesus predicts his upcoming rejection, suffering, and death, Peter takes him aside and tries to correct him. For Peter, Jesus was a messianic deliverer who would succeed politically. The Romans would not execute him; rather, like Judas Maccabaeus had defeated the Greeks and restored the Temple (see the apocryphal book if I Maccabees), Jesus would lead them to prevail against Rome.
Jesus was forced to confront Peter and the Twelve with that misperception and to warn them about embracing popular misconceptions of his person and mission. In that confrontation, he gave them a second touch, as just had been required to clear the vision of the blind man. I have known people who had rather orthodox theological opinions and thought they were seeing Jesus clearly as a result. However, correct theology without the experience of God’s loving presence in Christ is another form of seeing people like trees walking about. Second and third touches were needed.
May God help us listen by the shores of the great silence; may Jesus keep touching us. That touch may come in a variety of ways—in a dream, while reading a familiar passage in the Bible or literature, during a worship service, through a loving friend, through experiencing God in the creation. But, however the touches come each will heal our vision a bit more.
* Times Alone: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado, trans. Robert Bly (Middletown, CN: Wesleyan UP, 1983), pp. 43-45.
Collect of the Day, The Fourth Sunday in Lent
Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 219)
Collect for Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Lent
O Lord our God, you sustained your ancient people in the wilderness with bread from heaven: Feed now your pilgrim flock with the food that endures to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Holy Women, Holy Men, p. 56)
Today we celebrate the Feast of James T. Holly, bishop of Haiti and The Dominican Republic (died 13 Mar 1911 CE).
Collect of the Feast of James T. Holly
Most gracious God, whose servant James Theodore Holly labored to build a church in which all might be free: Grant that we might overcome our prejudice, and honor those whom you call from every family, language, people, and nation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
A Collect for Grace
Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100)
Disturb Us, Lord
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess we have lost our thirst for the water of life.
Stir us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery, where in losing sight of land we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hope, and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope and love. Amen. (Attributed to Sir Frances Drake upon departing to sail to the New World, 1577.)
A Prayer for Light
Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (BCP, 101)
Daily Office Gospel, Mark 8:11-26
11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. 12And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.’ 13And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.
14 Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15And he cautioned them, saying, ‘Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ 16They said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ 17And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ They said to him, ‘Twelve.’ 20‘And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ And they said to him, ‘Seven.’ 21Then he said to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’
22 They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ 24And the man looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ 25Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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