AUDIO MEDITATION:

James Tissot (French, 1836-1902), The Blind Man Washes in the Pool of Siloam. Public domain.

FULL TEXT:

In healing the blind man, Jesus “spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, ‘Go wash in the Pool of Siloam.’ So he went and washed, and came back able to see.”

Everyone has abandoned this man for fear of being associated with sin or controversy. Jesus sends him to wash and he goes, alone, to the pool. This watercolor captures this moment. The man is alone while the women on the other side go about their business. He had to make his way down those stairs without anyone to guide him.

But, even in this loneliness—perhaps especially in it—God is at work, bringing healing, light, and new life. The man will rise from the water as a new person.

At our own Baptism, when we were washed clean and given new light, we were adopted as sons and daughters of God. How might we create more time and space—alone—for God, our Father, to speak to us and touch us?