The Blind Man

Tim was finishing up his work and getting ready to pack up for the day when the phone rang. It was Ruth, his secretary who had left the office half an hour ago.

“I’ve left an important package on my desk by mistake. It needs to be delivered immediately to the Blind Institute which is only a few blocks away. Could you help me out?” Ruth was in a panic.

“Sure, I’ll drop the package off for you,” Tim said.

As Tim walked into the Blind Institute, a man ran toward him. “Thank heaven you arrived. We must get started at once,” the man said, pointed to an empty chair and told Tim to sit down. Before Tim could say anything, he was sitting in a row of people who were all sighted. Directly facing them was a row of sightless men and women. The man stood in front of the room and began giving them instructions.

“In a moment, I will ask those of you who are sightless to get to know the person seated across from you. When I say ‘begin’, you will reach across and touch the person’s head, feel the texture of their hair, note if it is curly, straight, coarse or thin. Imagine what color it might be. Then slowly place your fingers on their brow. Feel the strength, the size, the texture of the skin. Use both hands to investigate the eyebrows, eyes, nose, cheekbones, lips, chin and neck. Listen to the person’s breath. Is it calm or rapid? Can you hear the heart beating? Is it fast or slow? Take your time – and now, begin.”

Tim began to panic. He wanted out of this place. He didn’t want anyone to touch him. The young man seated across from him started touching his hair. Tim was uncomfortable and he tried to keep calm. The young man then touched his face and listened to his heart beating. Tim felt a sigh of relief when it was finally over.

“Next,” the instructor continued, “the sighted people will have the same opportunity to discover the person seated across from them. Close your eyes and imagine that you have never seen this person in your life. Decide what you want to know about this person. Who are they? What are their thoughts? What kind of dreams might they have? Reach across and begin to touch their head. Feel the texture of their hair. What color is their hair?”

Tim closed his eyes and had his hand on the young man’s head seated across from him. His hair felt dry and coarse. Tim was surprised that he couldn’t remember the hair color of the young man. At that moment, Tim realized that he’d never really looked at anyone. He just told people what to do. People were dispensable to him – he never really cared about them. His business was important, the deals he made were important. This touching, feeling and knowing other people was definitely not him.

Tim continued to touch the young man’s eyebrows, nose, cheeks and chin. He felt himself weeping inside. There was a tenderness in his heart that he had not known, a vulnerability he never revealed to himself or anyone else.

“Dreams of this young man?” Tim thought, “Why should I care? I don’t even know the dreams of my teenage kids. We don’t talk much. I don’t think they like me. I don’t think I understand them. My wife – well, she does her thing and I do mine.”

“Now,” the voice of the instructor brought Tim back to reality, “this is the last part of the exercise. You will each have three minutes to share with each other the experience you had getting to know your partner. Let your partner know what you were thinking and feeling. Tell them what you learned about them. The sightless person will go first.”

The name of Tim’s partner was Henry. He told Tim, “At first I felt left out because I didn’t think I’m going to have a partner this evening. I’m glad you are able to make it on time. I feel you truly have the courage to take the risks to emote and feel. I’m impressed at the way you followed the instructions despite how resistant you are to them. Your heart is very lonely and very big. You want more love in your life but you don’t know how to ask for it. I admire your willingness to discover the other side of you that truly makes a difference. I know you want to bolt out of the room, but you stay. It’s normal to accept and appreciate your own emotions. You might want to spend more time down here and learn who you really are.”

Tim looked across at this sightless Henry and wept openly. He couldn’t speak. He had never experienced this amount of unconditional love and wisdom. He was actually the blind man; it was Henry who had the vision to see who he was.

At the end of the meeting, Tim brought the envelope to the instructor and said, “My secretary was supposed to drop this off to you earlier this evening. Sorry it got here late.”

The instructor smiled and took the package, he said, “This is the first time I have ever run an evening like this. I’ve been waiting for the instructions to arrive so I would know what to do. When they didn’t arrive, I just had to wing it. I didn’t realize you weren’t one of the regular volunteers. Please accept my apologies.”