You bring before God a request for healing of your physical eyes, troubled by cataract, glaucoma, and dimness of sight. That is a heavy burden, and the desire to be free of it is natural. Yet consider: the eye of the body may fail, but the eye of the understanding, when made turbid by the confusion of evil thoughts, creates a far more dangerous blindness. For the disordered bodily eye mistakes objects, but the mind's eye darkened by passion cannot perceive truth itself. Is your vision of the soul healthy? Or do carnal desires and the love of temporal things dim its clearness? For when the soul abandons itself to the world, it drops into contentiousness, and the eye of the mind is blinded. Seek first the healing of that inward sight. What gain is it if your bodily eyes are sharp as an eagle's, but you cannot see the beam in your own soul? Cry out to God: Cleanse the eye of my understanding, that I may behold Your glory and not stumble at Your commandments.
Remember also that we are members of one body, knit together so that the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you." Your physical weakness is not a solitary affliction; it binds you to the whole body of Christ. In your need, you depend on the prayers and service of others, and they in turn are strengthened by bearing your burden. This very dependence is a mercy, teaching humility and love. Do not despise it, but let it remind you that we all, whether we appear great or small, are necessary to one another. For if all were an eye, where would the body be? Your infirmity is no proof of God's neglect but an opportunity to glorify Him through patience and mutual care.
And what of the eye that you turn toward your neighbor? Beware of the evil eye, which is not some magical harm from a glance but the jealousy and envy that arise from a depraved heart. Envy subtracts from what is complete and brings confusion, not healing. Do you, in your suffering, look enviously upon those who see clearly? Do you grumble against God's distribution of gifts? Such thoughts are a mote in your brother's eye that you imagine while a beam obscures your own sight. Cast out envy, and pray rather for a meek and lowly spirit. For the unsleeping Eye of God sees all; He is not an admirer who needs outward show, but the righteous Judge who weighs the heart. When you learn to fear not the opinion of men but to seek His approval alone, you will find that His sentence, whether for health or for continued trial, is better than all the approving voices of the multitude.
Pray, then, for both your bodily eyes and the eyes of your soul. But even as you ask for the removal of cataracts and the clearing of blur, ask more earnestly that the phantoms of sin be driven from your mind, that you may see clearly the path of life. And marvel not if bodily healing is delayed: the star that led the Magi was a wonder that stopped the mouths of the shameless, yet God's greatest works are often done in weakness. His power is made perfect in infirmity. So entrust your eyes, both outward and inward, to the Physician who needs no clay from Siloam to work His will. For the very mud of this affliction, borne with faith, may become a means of turning away a darker evil, just as the clay on the blind man's eyes became the instrument of sight. Lay hold of the hem of His garment; He is able to make you whole. And if He grants physical healing, give glory to God and use your restored vision not for vain gazing but for works of mercy. If He does not, then let your soul's vision be so purified that you stand on earth with your mind in heaven, having vision of the things that are there, and hearing the words from thence. For that is the truest sight.
