At a recent Wednesday evening meeting at my local Christian Science church, the First Reader shared the story of Saul hearing Jesus’ voice on the road to Damascus and becoming blind. Days later, when Saul (later named Paul) is healed of his blindness, he is awakened to follow Christ’s teachings and goes forward to preach the gospel (see Acts 9).
While this story always impresses on me the fact that no one is too full of evil intent that he cannot be transformed by God’s loving light and His higher intention, as I listened this time, the story’s hero changed for me. And I gained a new perspective on my work as a Christian Science practitioner.
In the story, Saul, a persecutor of Christians, makes his way to Damascus to seek out those he could punish for their beliefs. Saul’s journey is suddenly interrupted when a bright light blinds him and he hears Jesus speaking to him, calling him to change his ways and to follow God’s plan for him. Saul is left profoundly changed yet still blind.
