“The Blind Shall See”

We have this wonderful promise that in God’s everlasting kingdom, “the deaf shall hear” and “the blind shall see” (Isaiah 29:18).

A foretaste of it was seen during Christ’s earthly ministry (Matthew 11:2–5). But even today, we can make a difference in the lives of those with special needs. Helen Adams Keller (1880–1968) was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on June 27, 1880.

When she was only nineteen months old, she contracted an illness —diagnosed as “brain fever”— that left her both deaf and blind.

Beginning in 1887, Anne Sullivan became Helen’s teacher and companion, helping her develop the ability to communicate.

In 1904, Keller became the first deaf and blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. As an icon for overcoming blindness, dumbness, and deafness, she visited with many dignitaries and traveled the world, presenting lectures on optimism and hope and promoting humanitarian causes.

Over time, Keller developed a very positive and inspiring attitude. Her statements express a rich life experience. On overcoming problems, she stated, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” Based on her own struggles, she could say, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.

Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” Keller also emphasized the value of identifying and using our opportunities.

She warned, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” About her own attitude, she said, “To what is good I open the doors of my being, and jealously shut them against what is bad.” And she recognized that “the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, but just felt in the heart.” As mentioned earlier, Helen Keller overcame her physical limitations thanks largely to Anne Sullivan, whose eyes and ears provided her with vision and hearing.

While we wait in hope for the final restoration from all our physical limitations (Revelation 21:4), we can also make a difference in the lives of those with special needs.