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and advances on the roller in small increments when they push the lever that moves the carriage back each time after the bell rings . They see the little black marks that pushing the keys makes on the paper , and have even given each one those little symbols a name .
So now they know a great deal about this mysterious mechanism . But because they have no alphabet or system of alphabetic script , they really don ’ t know the first thing about the typewriter . They don ’ t know what it is because they have no idea of its purpose . They could assign purposes to it – perhaps the clacking of the keys would suggest using it as a kind of percussion instrument in making music . But they would not know its real purpose .
The point is : Our understanding of the whole world would be similarly deficient , no matter how much knowledge of the mechanics of it we acquired , if we didn ’ t know its purpose , which has been revealed to us in the Lord ’ s Word . “ The purpose of creation is a heaven from the human race .” ( Divine Providence 27 , 323 ) Those who find that unbelievable are free to assign any other purpose to it they want , or conclude that it has no purpose – but it would be hard to top “ heaven .”
( WEO ) beyond blindness
A book I read recently tells an inspiring true tale : Crashing Through : The Extraordinary True Story of the Man Who Dared to See , by Robert Kurson .
It ’ s the story of Michael May , a middle-aged man who was blinded by a chemical explosion at age 3 and went on to have a very successful and satisfying life as a blind man . Then he was offered a long-shot chance to have his sight restored with a new procedure involving stem cells .
It seems like a no-brainer to get your eyesight back . But it was a risky operation with potentially serious side effects – from incomplete or brief recovery of sight to cancer .
Few blind people are candidates for the procedure and the success rate was not encouraging . Surprisingly , some who had their sight restored suffered from depression . One woman – once she could see again – even screamed at her doctor , “ You have ruined my life !”
I read in another book years ago that with many people who have their sight restored their instinct in the face of crisis is to shut their eyes and deal with it as a blind person . That ’ s their comfort zone .
So , we can ’ t just assume that any blind person would say , “ Sure , I ’ d love to have my sight back ,” and that the transition would be easy .
Well , May weighed the risks with his wife and went ahead . The operation was successful , although not without extremely painful setbacks . But he
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