Spittle

L-R Freddy Eberhart, me, and Steve Eberhart
early 1960s

"Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the spittle..." (John 9:6)

The rough draft of Once Upon a Neighborhood is completed and now in the editing stage (my favorite part of book writing). In this story set in my old neighborhood atop Lookout Mountain back in 1963, Freddy makes me cross my heart, hope to die, and spit on the ground before he'll tell me his secret. In the next scene, spittle is running down my chin.

Spittle. I like that word.

The Gospel of John has a "spittle" story. One day, Jesus was walking along and saw a man who had been born blind. His disciples asked, "Teacher, whose sin caused him to be born blind? His own or his parents?"

Jesus answered, "His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents' sins. He is blind so that God's power might be seen at work in him."

After He said this, Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the spittle; He rubbed the mud on the man's eyes and told him, "Go and wash your face in the Pool of Siloam." So the man went, washed his face, and came back seeing.

The Pharisees interrogated the man Jesus healed on the Sabbath and shouted, "This man who cured you is a sinner!"

The man replied, "I do not know if He is a sinner or not. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I see!"

What has Jesus done for you, beloved? Go tell the world!

"Come and listen, all who honor God, and I will tell you what He has done for me." (Psalm 66:16)