Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over”. They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus. Jesus said, “What can I do for you?” The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see”. “On your way,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved and healed you”. In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road. (Mark 10: 49 – 52)

One day at work I got a call from my sister. She was dealing with a difficult situation at home, but she caught me at an awkward time when I was up to my ears in deadlines, and I was neither much help nor much support. We both ended the call feeling lost and hurt and confused. Rather than sit and stew I took a break and walked over to St Peter Julian’s, a church in downtown Sydney that’s open all day long. As I sat in one of the back rows off to the side, I saw dozens, if not hundreds of people come in, kneel down, and say their prayers. A number of them look like I felt – in need of some kind of help.

I remembered the question Jesus put to Bartimaeus: “What do you want me to do for you?” Like Bartimaeus I prayed, “Master, I want to see”. I wanted to see a different and better way of acting. I wanted to see what I had done wrong and a way to make it right. I wanted to see beyond my own hurt feelings to a place where my sister and I were back on the same page again rather than at odds. I think a lot of us in the church that day were offering the same prayer: “Master, I want to see”.

I’m sure that once I made my prayer and went back to work, God found little ways throughout the day to let me see the way. For me, it usually doesn’t come as a flash of light, but the divine light shines nonetheless. And the more I ask, the more I see.