http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2010/12/29/parable-of-the-healing-of-the-blind-man-of-bethsaida-i-see-men-as-trees/ McKinney TX Homilies, scripture commentary, spiritual reflections Mon, 20 May 2013 14:49:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2010/12/29/parable-of-the-healing-of-the-blind-man-of-bethsaida-i-see-men-as-trees/comment-page-1/#comment-7875 Deborah Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:15:57 +0000 http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/?p=2830#comment-7875 <em>I see men as trees, walking.</em>  My regard for my brother is that of a person towards a tree---it is there for my benefit:  to give me the comfort of shade, the enjoyment of beauty, perhaps fruit for food and to provide me with the raw materials from which I can build my dreams. Of course, I will have to prune and even eventually cut down some of the trees in <em>'my' </em>orchard to accomplish my plans. But, after all, they are only trees.   The fact that these trees are walking and talking, that they often resist and protest loudly, my attempts at 'cultivation' should give me a clue that I do not perceive rightly.  But I am determined and it is easy to go about my business and ignore the fact that things may not be what they seem.   Until the day of my complete healing, when my sight is <em>entirely</em> restored, I must continually confess that I do not see things as they are. I must constantly be reminded that what I see in front of me is <em>not </em>a tree but a man, my brother, and this world is not my orchard, but the Lord's.   I see men as trees, walking.  My regard for my brother is that of a person towards a tree—it is there for my benefit:  to give me the comfort of shade, the enjoyment of beauty, perhaps fruit for food and to provide me with the raw materials from which I can build my dreams. Of course, I will have to prune and even eventually cut down some of the trees in 'my' orchard to accomplish my plans. But, after all, they are only trees.
 
The fact that these trees are walking and talking, that they often resist and protest loudly, my attempts at 'cultivation' should give me a clue that I do not perceive rightly.  But I am determined and it is easy to go about my business and ignore the fact that things may not be what they seem.
 
Until the day of my complete healing, when my sight is entirely restored, I must continually confess that I do not see things as they are. I must constantly be reminded that what I see in front of me is not a tree but a man, my brother, and this world is not my orchard, but the Lord's.
 

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