FROM THE EDITORS: December 5, 2005 Issue

LIGHT TO THE BLIND, AND FOR THE 'COLOR-BLIND'

AS WE WATCHED and prayed in response to disturbing reports of turmoil in France—the damage being done largely by angerblinded young Frenchmen from North and West African immigrant families—we thought of an incident that occurred 2,000 years ago.

One day on a Jerusalem street, Christ Jesus noticed a man who was suffering from congenital blindness. Eugene Peterson's rendering of this incident in The Message offers a valuable insight: "His disciples asked, 'Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?' Jesus said, 'You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do'" (see John 9:1–7).

As in praying for restored calm and a healthier body politic in France, so in healing the human body, the question is, Are we asking the right questions? Are we mesmerized with surface impressions, or do our responses and treatments reach beyond appearances to the underlying causes of discord and disease?

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