Hello my friends.
This is Mark Glideman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Monk in Docs,
Welcoming you back to another instalment of our Lent 2026 journey in the wilderness still held as we walk through John's Gospel towards Easter.
And today,
On day 26,
We continue in the story of Jesus,
His disciples,
Meeting a blind man on the road in John chapter 9 from verse 35.
As we begin though,
I invite you,
As always,
To slow and settle yourself.
Allow your body to find a posture that feels both relaxed and awake,
As your breathing become natural and unforced.
And just for a moment,
Notice the rhythm of your breaths.
Just receive the words from God's Spirit today.
Moving on from yesterday,
We saw Jesus encounter a man who'd been blind from birth.
And Jesus heals him.
And then the religious authorities question him.
They press him,
Analyse the situation,
Debate theology.
And the man says something profoundly beautiful and simple.
I love this.
I don't know,
He says,
But this one thing I do know.
I was blind and now I see.
This man can't argue doctrine,
Doesn't have the knowledge to go into this complex theological debate,
Isn't eloquent enough to present a polished explanation,
But simply speaks from lived experience.
Hey guys,
I was blind and now I can see.
Now if you think about it,
There's a quiet courage in that.
I think a lot of us doubt our spiritual voice because it feels unsophisticated,
Might be the word.
We think that we need more language or study or more certainty before we're allowed to speak.
We compare ourselves to people who sound articulate,
Who are confident,
Who are well-formed in their understanding.
And because of that,
I think a lot of people tend to minimise their own lived experience.
But the man in John 9 reminds us,
Clarity can be relational.
Truth can be experiential.
And faith can be spoken from encounter.
It doesn't have to come from expertise.
How simple.
I was blind and now I see.
There's not one skerrick of arrogance or defensiveness,
But just a grounded confidence.
And this is what happens when we take that posture of abiding.
It produces this kind of quiet conviction.
When you live closely with God over time,
Something,
It's not always dramatic.
And not always happens in ways that are easy to explain,
But slowly and gently and steadily,
You see different.
You respond different.
You forgive more quickly.
You notice yourself becoming less reactive.
Maybe you can see how you're carrying peace through moments where anxiety would have ruled the day.
And it might not be something you can express in a way that'll hold up in a debate or an argument or a theological exposition,
But deep down,
You just know it.
And I honestly think wilderness experiences shape this authenticity.
In wilderness,
Performance completely falls away because there's no audience.
There's nothing that you need to curate.
You're out there exposed to everything.
And you meet yourself honestly,
And you meet God honestly.
And what remains,
What's left,
Is real.
And I honestly reckon that a lot of the time,
The courage to say something comes from encounter.
You don't get that sort of courage from mastery.
You can still have the greatest theological exposition,
But sometimes if you haven't experienced it,
You still don't feel confident about it.
That experience,
That encounter,
That matters.
There's no need to have all the answers down,
All the I's dotted and the T's crossed to speak truthfully.
You just need integrity with your lived experience.
And so it's worth asking yourself the question,
What has genuinely changed in me over time?
What's actually changed?
And if you're struggling,
Maybe it's worth thinking about whether you've minimized your own experience or dismissed something that's very real because it didn't sound impressive or look dramatic.
Ask yourself,
Can I honor what I know from living,
Not just from learning,
From experience?
Perhaps there was a time that you were more anxious,
And now there's steadiness in play.
Maybe there was things about which you were really bitter,
And now you find yourself just that little bit softer.
Maybe there was confusion where there now is just a little bit more trust.
As it comes to your mind,
Just name it quietly before God.
At the end of the story,
Jesus asks the man,
Do you believe in the Son of Man?
And when Jesus reveals himself,
The man responds simply,
Lord,
I believe.
But listen,
This belief,
It's not built on theory or theology.
It's built on relationship,
On communion,
On connection.
And I invite you today to let yourself feel validated here.
Your story matters.
Your encounter matters.
Your growth,
However slow,
It matters.
Confidence rooted deeply in your lived experience is enough.
It's enough.
As we come to the end of our time together today,
As you breathe deeply in and out,
Receive this affirmation and share it with me.
What God has done in me is real.
And again,
Softly say it with me.
What God has done in me is real.
Friend,
May you walk with grounded confidence today.
May you trust what has been formed in you.
And when the moment comes to speak,
May your words rise up from that beautiful and very real encounter that you've had,
No matter how great or small.
And may grace,
Peace and love be with you as you share that light with others.
Amen.
Until tomorrow,
Friends,
Grace and peace be with you.
