Blind

I have a friend who was blind.  She did not have a conventional surgery to repair her blindness, nor did she experience a miracle.  She was punched in the gut.  Every day she sees just a little better than the day before.

She did not see the character traits absent from the one with whom she shared the most intimacy.  After her divorce, she now sees clearly what she could not see before.

Can 20/20 hindsight sharpen foresight? 

For theologians, the answer is yes.  John Piper wrote a fabulous book entitled "The Purifying Power of Faith in Future Grace" that brilliantly answers the question.

For the rest of us, the answer is sometimes, or maybe, or no. 

The often used quote to illustrate this is "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."

Putting the insanity defense aside (whether we should put it aside or not is questionable), what keeps us from seeing reality clearly in the moment?  It is clutter.

In the espionage world, they call it chatter.  Messages sent all around the world pointed to the 9/11 terrorist attack.  But the arrow pointed backwards, not forwards.  The sight came after the gut punch.

In the TV drama/criminal prosecutorial world, they call it punditry.  Everyone knew the verdict of a now all too familiar trial in Florida.  Until the jury came back in to the courtroom.  Now the commentators point backwards to rule of law and proof versus circumstance that was not seen before.  Gut punch.

I don't know about you, but I don't prefer to learn from the gut punch.  But there must be something about the adrenalin shock that gets my brain in gear to see reality.

If it is all the same to you, I had rather be gut punched than be blind.