I am officially sick of the coronavirus and the constant deluge about cruise ships and contamination and washing of hands. The coronavirus is serious business but a more serious issue may be the fact that we have to remind adult, supposedly smart people, that they should wash their hands. Anyway, on to more important things like where did the toast come from where people raise their glasses and say, “here’s mud in your eye”? I have been studying John 8-10 and find the healing of the blind man one of those fascinating multilevel studies of human nature while revealing Christ as Lord and Light..
The disciples of Jesus see the blind man as a theological discussion point rather than an individual in need. The Pharisees see the man as a piece of evidence against Jesus in a heresy trial. His parents see the man as either an embarrassment or a danger to their church affiliation. Jesus sees need and responses and tells us that God’s glory will be and can be revealed in folks and their issues and need. Everyone is blind, and one man was blind and then he sees. His life of begging had obviously given him a view of human nature that was pretty realistic. He is a smart aleck and a bit of a jerk but he is a wonderful witness and comes to worship. Everyone in the narrative are trying to judge Jesus and Jesus stands as the light of the world and one who illuminates all things.
So some folks think that the famous toast came from WWI and the mud in the trenches but wouldn’t the toast then be “here’s mud in your shoe”? I like to think that one of these stories about the light of the world so permeated the thoughts of folks that we have a toast to add to the lyric from “Amazing Grace”.
