Poor, blind Marie! The preacher who had recently come to their town spoke of the Lord Jesus who had opened the eyes of the blind people He met. What longings rose in her heart! How she wished that she might see, not just for the joy of looking at the lovely blue sky or the faces of her dear family, but because she longed to be able to read about Him, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Marie’s great desire stirred Mr. Cameron’s heart. He hoped that he could help her. After making inquiries he found a Christian man who had a class for a few blind people. He taught them to read Braille and to do handiwork by which they could earn a little money.
Mr. Cameron arranged that Marie should attend the class for an hour or so each day. He also gave her a Bible in Braille, the letters of which are raised high so that the blind can feel them with their fingertips.
What joy filled Marie’s heart as she set out for her first lesson! With her precious Bible under her arm and her hand in her younger brother’s, she walked the few blocks to the gentleman’s house.
But great was her disappointment! Marie’s family was poor. In order to help earn a little money, Marie had been taught basket weaving which many blind people can do quite cleverly. She had worked several years at this. The skin on her finger tips had become so hard that she could not feel the raised letters in the Braille Bible.
However, one day as she sat working, cutting the ends off the straw she was using, she had an idea.
“Why not cut the hard skin off my fingers,” she thought, “then new soft skin would grow in its place.”
She really did this in spite of the pain it gave her. But it did not help. There was still not enough feeling in her fingers, and anyway she had to keep on weaving baskets. Day after day she wept as she worked. Then came a new thought.
“Though I cannot see, God has opened the eyes of my soul,” she whispered. “Should I not praise and thank Him for this?”
Feeling more cheerful now, she began to think about her Bible.
“Since I cannot use it, ought I not let someone else have it. Perhaps there is another blind person with softer fingers who will be able then to learn to read.”
Holding the Book close to her she knelt and prayed.
“Oh, precious Lord Jesus, Thou who lovest the poor and openeth the eyes of the blind, I thank Thee that Thou hast not hid Thyself from a poor blind girl. As I cannot read Thy heavenly words, I ask that Thou wilt whisper them in my heart continually, so that my mind may not be as dark as my eyes. I can hear Thy blessed Word and Thou knowest that I love Thee.”
Then Marie opened the Bible and put it to her lips to kiss the page. And what a joyous surprise! Her tender lips could plainly feel the high printed letters. With a cry of delight she followed the lines down the whole page. It was all easy and plain. Her lips could read.
A year later Mr. Cameron visited Marie again. The little home was just the same, but Marie’s face shone with heavenly joy. She sat on an old chair with a basket at her feet, reading her dear Bible. For her darkness was gone.
“Is it not nice to kiss the lovely words while I am reading them?” she said in a voice full of happiness. How good the Lord had been to her! He had heard her prayer and filled her heart with gladness.
Oh that we all would value the Scriptures as she did! You have your natural eyesight. You can read these words easily. But have the eyes of your soul been opened, for we are all born spiritually blind? Through His Word and by His Spirit, God would open our eyes to see that we are sinners and that the only way to have those sins forgiven is through trusting in the Lord Jesus as Saviour. Satan, the god of this world, has blinded the minds of them that don’t believe, and he tries to keep them that way until it is too late—when they die and wake up in eternal darkness—lost forever. “One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” John 9:2525He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. (John 9:25).
ML-11/11/1979