As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
John 9:1-3
Irene and I were out of the house early this morning running several errands, enjoying breakfast and people watching at the Dolphin Restaurant on the Santa Cruz Wharf. We savored the high blue sky, sailboats, seals and the rigorous surf. Irene commented several times …. ”it’s a good day to be alive….!!!!”
The nausea remained at a low roar and she was able to remain fairly active for most of the day.
For those of you who have been traveling Irene’s Journey of Faith with us for the last year+, you may recall that when she was hospitalized at UCSF in May of 2007 BOTH of her eyes experienced detached retinas from steroid treatment as part of the stem cell transplant preparation protocol. UCSF had never seen that reaction before and it wasn’t until their research discovered a white paper written in 1986 that they learned that the side effect was, in fact, possible. You may also recall that Irene wore protective sunglasses in her hospital room for several weeks to offset extreme blurriness until her sight was finally restored without undergoing any sort of surgical procedure. Maintaining a sense of humor at that time, she referred to herself as having vision akin to Mr. Magoo!!! Both retinas naturally re-attached and her more normal vision returned over time, although she now wears glasses more often than ever before.
However, through that experience Irene’s VISUAL blurriness lead to significant SPIRITUAL insights and an abiding peace which sustained her and continues to this day, keeping her laser beam focused on Jesus. As a follower of Jesus her attitude is a mirror image of His, which is that this entire state of affairs has happened so that the work of God might be displayed in her life. She is a willing vessel channeled for
