Reflecting on the reading from Sunday 29th July — week 2 of our journey from St John’s Tide to Michaelmas

The plank or log in our own eye that we cannot see (Matthew 7: 3 – 5) must surely belocated in our blind spot then, the very spot that Otto Scharmer implores us to attend to before we set out in the social field to fix anything.  He and the writer of Matthew’s Gospel concur in their advice.  Scharmer writes: “What counts is where you’re coming from inside yourself.  Leaders (and change makers and community members) need to deal with the blind spot and shift the inner place from which they operate.”  He wants us to recognise that the focus of our attention affects how we hear, how we speak, how we organise ourselves in social situations, and to be aware that “I attend this way, therefore it emerges that way”.

The story of ‘The Blind Men and The Elephant’ has, for centuries, captured people’s imaginations on the misinformation and partiality we can expound when we attend from our blind spot.  And further to that,  depending on religious perspectives, there have also been differing morals to the tale — the blind spot perpetuates difference and possibility as much as it complicates coming to a united picture.  Google “The Blind Men and The Elephant” and read wikipedia for an exposition on the delightful metaphor.

How we identify and work that log out of our blind spot and into clear vision, is a whole delicate and skilled process in itself — it will be interesting to see how markers from pericopes (extracts of gospel readings) in the next weeks inform us about this, or not.  Certainly for anyone whose interest is piqued, Otto Scharmer’s “Theory U”, is a substantial shot in the dark!

With greetings to you all,
Cheryl