This article is another installment in Brother P’s series, “Lessons From the Nursing Home.”

My job is walking people in a nursing home. I often have students with me, such as a nursing assistant, or physical therapy students. In those cases, my job is to teach the students how to transfer and walk with the residents. Occasionally, the patient is completely blind.

So, I tell the student to put a gait belt on the patient, and I say that the patient is completely blind. Then, without further instruction I say, “Let’s go.”

Most of the time, students have the patient stand up, and then they give the blind person some kind of visual cue, such as, “Let’s walk out of the door,” or “Let’s go walk in the hall.” Often, the patient bumps into things in the room like the wall or doorposts. (Rest assured that I make sure the patient is not hurt!) And once the student witnesses the patient bump into something, they ACTUALLY REALIZE that the patient is blind.

Funny … they had the information given to them, but they still do not “understand” that the patient is blind as evidenced by the fact that they allowed the patient to bump into something. Afterward, they become hyper-vigilant, and they verbalize every aspect of the environment for the patient.

I learned about a similar situation from the preacher in church. Lehi dreamed that people were walking through a mist of darkness. They did not “understand” that they were blind and didn’t know the way to go, and some would wander off. But just along the pathway was a rod of iron, which represents the Word of God.

Once we actually realize that we are blind without the Word of God, life has less bumps.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.