In order to really get what this passage is about, you’ll need to look in a mirror for a few minutes. First, before you look in the mirror (maybe have it behind you), hold your hands above and below your head until you can just see them with your peripheral vision.
Now.
Turn to look at the hand above, so you can really see it.
Can you see your other hand anymore?
Move your other hand up just enough so you can just see it with your peripheral vision.
Okay, now, as you keep your hands in that position, turn around and look in the mirror.
Notice the position of your hands.
Your hands represent a perspective—you can see some things, but you can’t see all things.
By turning to your higher hand, you lost sight of your lower hand, and had to move it. You have to literally give up seeing some things so you are able to see other things.
Hang on to that. This is exactly what Mark has been trying to get to with this chapter, and with the lesson of Bartimaeus. You’ll see this same lesson echoed throughout the Christian Bible.
[Blind Bartimaeus | Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/ flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/%5D