Good News for the Blind and Lame

I enjoyed the hospitality of a bed-ridden man in a tent. He had lived in that spot all his life. He occupied the front part of the tent, and his wife and children were in the second part, hidden behind a veil. He was so happy to receive two visitors. His nephew, the man who drove us in a four-wheel pickup across the sands of Wadi Rum in Jordan, started pumping the primus stove. Soon, thick, rich, sweet coffee was ours to sip for the hour we spent in the Bedouin tent. 

Outside, the sand was burning hot. Nearby, scrawny goats searched for nourishment.

I sat down beside the owner of the tent. The man, unable to walk after a stroke, was happy to show me his picture book, a photograph album. He had pasted postcards in it. They had been sent to him by previous guests, who also enjoyed a cup of boiling-hot coffee. They kept in touch by writing down his address, "Mohammed, Under the Cliff, Wadi Rum." 

One set of postcards caught my eye. A woman from California had been there and kept in touch. Mr. Mohammed asked me, "Do you know this lady?" And I answered, "No, but I would like to know her. She has sent you many words of comfort. She knows the most important things in life." 

Each of the half-dozen postcards from San Francisco contained words of comfort from scripture. 

Today, on the fifth day of Sukkot, The Feast of Tabernacles. I'm thinking of the blind and lame who left Egypt. How hard it must have been for their relatives! Taking care of themselves with little or no water, and having to lend a hand to a person born with a defect surely was a trial. Or, maybe someone had been injured or punished for not producing enough bricks for the Egyptian Building Program!

Isaiah's words are so appropriate for Mr. Mohammed and all who are blind and lame, both physically and spiritually. "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.: Isaiah 35:5-8

During these days of Covid-19, friends, please take a moment to ask yourself, "Who do I know who is blind or lame or afflicted in some other way?" Then take a few minutes to reach out to them. Let your words be like water in a dry and thirsty land. You might also want to pray for children who live, even today, in the desert.