The Country of the Blind

Recently I came across an old H. G. Wells story titled, "The Country of the Blind". It is an incredibly imaginative saga about a man named Quito who accidently fell from the heights of the Andes of Ecuador and survived. His long fall was cushioned by snow on slopes until he eventually awoke in a valley thousands of feet below.

The people of the valley had existed there for centuries. Their world was closed to others by a long ago slide of mud and ice. In this valley a disease began to blind the people until sight was a forgotten thing. The people learned to live so well in the blind that even talk of sight and seeing was lost from their vocabulary over generations long past. Even now the orbs that had once been eyes had shriveled and their eye sockets were deeply recessed. It was into this world that Quito stumbled.

At first they thought he was hideously deformed and grotesque because of the protrusions (eyes) on his face. The more he tried to convince them of the value of sight the more they became convinced he was crazy. Their doctor said these protrusions had effected his brain and the only cure was to remove his eyes. This was a horrible thought to Quito and he rejected it completely.

As time went on Quito fell in love with a young lady named Medina-sarote. Her father agreed to allow the marrage only if Quito would have the surgery and allow his eyes to be removed.

Quito had actually began to question his sanity. Perhaps he was wrong? Perhaps they were right? They got along fine without eyes . . . well so could he. But the night before the surgery he began to see the beauty in the stars and things he knew he would never see again. It was then that he relaized he could never allow himself to submit to the surgery. He knew that in spite of their persuasion he was not insane . . . in fact he was indeed normal. Sight is a wonderful thing and he could no longer remain or be subjected to the influence of the country of the blind. It was then that he sought for a way of escape. That night he began climbing out of the valley.

This story intriques me because it holds so many lessons for the Church. We live in a dark world that is blind to the things of God. John wrote that Jesus came as a light into darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. We cannot allow the world to determine what is right and wrong for us. God alone deserves that right. He has given us His Word and Spirit to lead and guide us in our progression to Him.

Another lesson is that the Church cannot allow itself to be limited by what it sees or does not see. As an individual I do not want the Church to limit what I can attain in God, or what we corporately can attain together through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This week's message on Mother's Day was "The Country of the Blind". We honored the mothers in the preliminaries, but the message was reserved as to what would please the Lord. We cannot allow anything or anyone to seperate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. We cannot . . . we will not . . . settle in the country of the blind.

Climb up friends.