Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all?” – Mark 8:17-18

This morning’s walk reminded me of some of the conversations I have had recently about clarity. There were three things Jesus said repeatedly, and in various ways, during his ministry, and they go like this:

1. “Would you people open your eyes just a little bit for crying out loud!”
2. “Hello? Is anybody home? Have the twelve of you forgotten to put your listening ears on this morning?”
3. “Duh!”

Well I’m not absolutely sure about that last one, but I am one hundred percent certain Jesus would have inserted “duh” in many places had the word – or it’s Aramaic equivalent – been invented two thousand years ago.

I enjoy the way an early morning mist hangs onto the trees, mutes the view, blankets all the sounds of the day, and keeps the temperature down. Then, when it lifts, the sunlight floods in and everything is completely different in an instant.

When the mist is still there, there’s a dimension of vision it’s easy to miss when the sun blazes and the shadows become so deep. In certain ways, I can see more when the colors are muted and the light is more evenly diffused.

That’s a lot like life in the regular, routine, day to day. It’s fun to be in church in the flood of blazing light, to feel the warmth of fellowship from my men’s group companions on the journey, to listen to inspirational messages and enjoy beautiful music… But it’s in my day by day walk with God that I often stop for more intimate conversations with Jesus, and in the challenge of peering closely into the fog to see more clearly that I often do.

The key to clarity is not just open eyes, but sometimes new eyes.

So I guess that makes one more for the list – #4 from Jesus: “Come on, people! Don’t you remember anything at all?” 

It’s a valid question – DEREK