"Take heart; stand up; he is calling you." At that he threw off his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" "Master," the blind man answered, "I want my sight back." Jesus said to him, "Go, your faith has cured you." Mark 10:49-52

There are many ways to be blind. Blind Bartimaueus was seated by the roadside and, as he probably did every day, shouted at those who passed by for help. This time, Jesus walked by and Bartimaueus, as was his custom, remained seated by the roadside and shouted out to Jesus for mercy. Finally, Jesus stopped and asked his followers to call to the blind man. They called out to Bartimaueus and told him to take heart and stand up. And against his usual custom, Bartimaueus stood up, threw off his cloak and came to Jesus. And then, instead of shouting a plea of mercy, Bartimaueus listened to Jesus' question, answered him clearly. and stated his need for healing. It was all different operating procedure for Bartimaueus. Was that a key part of his healing? That he stood and proclaimed his need clearly to God?

In her gem of a book, Living with Contradiction, Esther de Waal writes about the Benedictine vow of stability--of standing firm where we find ourselves. Instead of sitting by the side of the road in frustration, ignoring or running away from ourselves, Jesus calls us to stand and proclaim our whole being before God:

The vow of stability tells me that I must not run away from myself. It tells me to stand still, to stand firm, not in the sense of standing still in some geographical spot, which of course is simply not possible for most of the time in our highly mobile twentieth-century world, but in the more fundamental sense of standing still in my own centre, not trying to run away or to escape from myself, the person who I really am.... Henri Nouwen reminds us that Christ is telling us, "I am your home...claim me as your home...It is right where you are...in your innermost being...in your heart." The more attentive we are to such words the more we realize that we do not have to go far to find what we are seeking. The tragedy is that we try to find that place elsewhere, that we wander off searching for it, and so we become strangers to ourselves, people who have an address, but are never at home. And, we might add, unless we are at home we shall never be able to receive the figure of Christ who stands outseide, knocking, waiting to come in. (p. 49)

It is so easy to be blind to those parts of ourselves that we do not like. It is easy to run away from pieces of our lives to which we'd rather not tend. It is easy to sit by the side of the road and say "Woe is me, life is not good for me right now." But this is precisely the time that Jesus walks by us and calls to us. And when Jesus calls, he calls us to stand up, throw off our clothes of mourning and complaint, and come to him. We have to take some initiative. We have to own up to our whole selves. We have to say "Here I am--help me." And once we do that, Jesus smiles. For in standing up and walking towards Jesus, we have stepped out in faith. Standing up for Jesus. Now I finally understand that hymn. Stand up, Stand up for Jesus. Bartimaeus shows us how to stand up and own one's need for healing. The rest is easy.

Text: Mark 10:46-52

Pondering: Where do you need to stand up, throw off your cloak, and come to Jesus?

In Christ's Love,