Longing and Calling

Recently, I read again in the gospel of Mark the story of Blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52). Bartimaeus is sitting in the street when he hears that Jesus will be coming along. So, he begins to call out to Jesus. When Jesus passes by, the people around Bartimaeus tell him to be quiet and not to call out to Jesus and bother him. But Bartimaeus doesn’t let that stop him. He keeps calling out all the more, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” I wonder how much I let myself be quieted by others and stop calling out to Jesus. It’s probably more that I shut myself up; self-censoring. I need to keep calling out to Jesus to (at the very least!) have mercy on me and my blindness. Bartimaeus was ready with a specific answer for Jesus when He asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said: “I want to see.” Do I have a specific answer when Jesus asks that of me? Do you?