A man yelled in the middle of my public lecture, “I see your point!” I was a bit flustered. Then I noticed the man was blind. His outburst highlights a paradox at the center of human life: there is seeing, and there is seeing. What does it take to see in the sense that really matters?

Physical sight and the light that makes it possible are astonishing gifts. That some people are physically blind is a potent reminder of the significance of this power we tend to take for granted. What would it be like to walk in darkness?

A closer look reveals that physical blindness itself can highlight a deeper blindness and a deeper seeing, a seeing that both transcends and gives purpose to physical sight. Physical sight comes to its fruition in something beyond itself. This is clear even and especially in those moments when we are most delighted in what we see. We ‘sense’ that there is more, and we long to ‘see’ it too.

We are made for seeing. Thus Josef Pieper famously expresses a foundational insight about human life. For most of us this seeing begins in bodily sight, as well as in hearing and the other senses. Our physical senses are our gateway to those realities that transcend bodily vision even while they ‘show up’ in it.

So I ask again: how do we use our eyes well, in service of the higher seeing for which we were made? Well, in any case, we have just asked one of those questions that life is about answering; and as the wise insist, to ask the right question is already to start down a very good road.

If I am designed to see, spring is designed to be seen. First of course with our eyes. Oh those bright colors! The greens, the yellows, the blues, the pinks, the (how does one even name the color of our Eastern ‘redbud?’)! Aquinas says that bright colors are especially beautiful, as they are especially luminous, clear, splendorous. The meaning seems to be that these colors are richer fare for the eyes, and so suggest and draw us to realities more bright and luminous—realities that lurk just behind those colors. If we but really look. And keep looking.

The blind man came and expressed his gratitude after my lecture. I thanked him sincerely for his unconventional intervention. Who knows just what he saw that occasioned his outburst. Whatever it was, I am going to keep looking for it, starting with my eyes, and starting this spring.

This is the season of the ‘light of the world.’ We might see it all around us. This light dispels darkness—every kind of darkness in which I may find myself. “Lord, that I might see.” ~ ~ ~

LATEST PODCAST: WALKING for RECREATION: A PATH TO RENEWING HOMELIFE.  Join Sofia and me in this surprising conversation that goes to the heart of homelife and offers a hopeful, practical, and simple boon for the whole household: WALKING. This Spring!

John Cuddeback

Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. LifeCraft springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.