Cathedral.

Prejudices. We all have them. Whether they are sub-conscious or realized, we all have at least one. I will venture to say that being with or communicating to a person with a disability is a universal prejudice. We feel awkward. We don't know what to do. We treat them as if they are not real people.


In the story, Cathedral, written by Raymond Carver, a couple take a blind man into their home. The wife had been a friend of Robert's, the blind man, for years. She had worked at one point in time for him, and fast forwarding about 10 years, Robert comes to visit her and her husband after his wife Beulah died. The husband, who narrates the story, states from the start that he is bothered by having a blind man in his home. He states the obvious prejudices; blind people move slowly, they never laugh, and they need "seeing" dogs. From the moment Robert arrives in his home, the husband is distant. He allowed his preconceived notions to determine what this man would be like. Throughout the story there are various instances where he stays silent because he feels as if he has nothing in common with the blind man.

But there comes a point in this story where the man is forced to make conversation and a connection with the blind man. His wife had gone upstairs, and the two of them were left alone to overcome the unspoken barriers  of judgement. This invisible line of separation was broken when the blind man asked the narrator to describe a cathedral. Feeling as if he can't explain it, the husband starts to get frustrated. It was a moment of realization; how can you explain something to someone who has never seen? To someone who does not have a clue what you mean? Robert asked the husband to sketch a picture of the cathedral. He wanted to place his hand over his, to feel the movement to try and see in his mind what it looked like. It was the silver lining. The narrator was beginning to un-see. He closed his eyes as well in order to understand what its like to have to come up with an image of something you've never seen. It was the moment of relating.

As I was reading this story, I couldn't help but notice these things. I felt as if God was shining a spotlight on my weaknesses of treating people with disabilities as if they are not normal. And I know it is not just me. Come on, now. No one can read this and say they've never judged someone with a disability. But as I was reading this story, I realized just how brilliant these people actually are. I question, who was actually blind in this story? Was it the narrator who couldn't see life as it actually was, or the man who had a physical blindness? It made me realize that our society is disabled. We are disabled in the way that we can't relate, and we don't try to relate to people who are different than us. We allow preconceived opinions of people to stop us from building relationships with others. Its not what makes us different, but rather, what makes us the same.

I'm leaving this story feeling challenged to recognize my own disabilities, and hoping I have the strength to be love to others despite them. Our blind society need to learn to un-see as well, so we might see things as they actually are.