Shaving Blind. Yep. Pretty Smart.

So we have this situation.

Our septic is as such that if we use our garden tub, it backs up the lines..

Mhmm. Gross. Unfixable except at great expense, SO! We shower in lieu of sit baths.

This works great except for shaving. I'm not the most coordinated person anyway, so this can present a pretty sketchy scenario when its time to cut down the trees on my legs...But add to that the fact that I'm BLIND...

Yep.

I cant wear my glasses in the shower, for obvious reasons, but I also can't wear my contacts in the shower because tap water in my eyes reacts with my lenses and dries them out.

Code Language: Not fun.

So, I shave...pretty much blind.

I can see shapes but its really blurry...kinda like opening your eyes under water with no mask on. Kinda like this:

 

So, after leg day, I hopped in the shower...Correction: I stumbled into the shower. One does not 'hop' anywhere after leg day...and I began the process of shaving blind. 

I'm pretty used to it. I use my other senses to make sure that the razor is doing its job and have a pretty good track record with not slicing myself or with missing too much hair. Haha! I will run my hand up the shaved portion after the razor to ensure smoothness and then the sound of the razor squeaking against smooth skin also tells me it did it's job.

This day, I was in a rush because leg day is on Saturday and we have church on Saturdays so I didn't use all my senses.  I ran the razor up my leg a few times and then heard the "tell-tale" squeak.  Woot! Smooth legs.  I hopped out of the shower, put on my glasses and began to lotion my legs and...

"WHAT?!"  

My legs had patches of prickles e'rrrwhere!

I had shaved the entirety and that razor had squeaked like it always does when my legs are smooth! UGH!  And I didn't have time to correct it! 

It was then that Papa spoke softly to my heart about His children and His bride. His words pierced me through. I didn't want to believe the truth of it, but the weight of it bore witness to my soul. 

"My children are much like this squeaky razor sometimes...Many are blind and have no way of really knowing what is truth...they trust that the church is doing its job effectively. They hear the noise and assume that all is well, but when it come to the application...they find themselves jaded and disappointed."

I was silent for a moment as I rubbed the lotion on my legs in, feeling the effects of my very ineffective razor.  I thought of how my vision was...I could see, but not enough to distinguish for myself the accuracy and effectiveness of the razor I was using. Had I been able to see clearly, I would have seen immediately that the razor had lost its edge and needed a new blade.  

It reminded me of Mark 8:24.  Jesus had touched a blind man's eyes and he asked the man what he saw. The man responded that he saw men walking around as trees so Jesus touched him a second time and the man could see clearly.  There are many of us in all stages of blindness.  Some have been touched twice, others once, and still others not at all...

And then I thought of all the times when I have seen, myself, the noisy actions of churches...drawing attention to their works...giving the appearance that their work was completely effective...yet to come close to these ministries and find that the noise was simply compensation for a lack of sharpness...And I remember counseling with people who had not seen this and had trusted these ministries and ministers, only to find out that there really was no authenticity or power behind their claims and all their noise. I remember feeling jaded, myself, over these same issues...to be in such a rush to do my Father's bidding that I trusted the system and institution instead of using my vision and all my senses to discern the truth. 

Papa...I don't want to be the squeaker or the jaded.  I want to sharpen my blade upon the Cornerstone and allow the ones you have placed in my life to sharpen my iron.  I want to use all of my senses to know what is You and what is simply noise...because I'm the blind man in Mark, more often than not. 

I love how He speaks to us in the little things...He's always talking...If we will listen...Even when we're shaving blind.