The following is from a letter from Dirk Cline, who played the blind man.
I'm sharing it with permission. I love these stories. I put in bold my favorite part.
Yesterday, I embraced the Savior!
In November, 2007 I auditioned for a part in the Easter Pagent in Mesa, Arizona. I saw the pagent last year, both in Spanish and in English, and was so moved. I felt drawn to be involved in some way. I thought if I could be in the production, I would have spiritual experiences and opportunities to share my feelings about the Savior. I felt I could be spiritually fed and my life would be changed for the better, if I could just be in the play.
I wanted to be a Roman guard or an Apostle. I wanted to walk through the audience in costume, before and after the production as they do, and share my testimony – in character and in Spanish. I wanted to grow my hair and beard for months before the production and let the ‘growth’ give rise to conversation about my involvement in the pagent and my feelings for the Savior.
I was eventually cast – not as an Apostle but as the blind man that Jesus healed at the beginning of his ministry. When I first learned of my assigned role, I was a bit disappointed. I thought I would have been a good Pilate. As I pondered things for a while, I came to realize this was the perfect role for me. I would play a character that was humble, needy and faithful then healed, grateful and a confident witness of the Savior’s love. All characteristics I yearn for in my life.
A few days after receiving the ‘casting’ email from Nancy Wudel, the pagent director, I got a phone call from a photographer named Mark Mabry. He was doing a photo project shooting the significant scenes from the pagent that depict the Savior’s life – using costumed characters on location. The photos were to be shown as a collection at the visitors center during the pagent. As the ‘casted’ blind man, I was asked to be in his project.
The location was in a town called Arivaca, AZ – a few miles from the Mexican border. It took me about three hours to drive there. I met with the crew and visited with Nancy and Mark for an hour or so and then was costumed for the shot. I wore a number of layers of tattered robes and covers as well as a curious headdress of bandage looking wraps.
Before heading to the spot where the shot was to be taken, Mark asked me to offer a prayer. The Spirit seemed to join us at that point and I was moved, emotional and filled with awe at the reality of the former event we were going to portray. Mark also read the verses that describe this miracle (from John 9 I think). In keeping with the scriptural description, one of the crew had mixed some dirt and water to make mud.
Mark positioned me on the set and had me kneel. Robert, the man portraying Christ, was then positioned in front of me. He was dressed in white and tan robes and sandals. He had shoulder-length hair and a beard. His face was serene, happy and kind as he began to get into character. We looked into one another’s eyes, as the lighting was being checked, and I entered into the character of a man kneeling before the Savior – pleading for a miracle.
I placed my right hand on the small of his back and tightly clutched his robe with my left hand. With my eyes closed, I turned my face upward. Christ placed a small dab of the mud on my eye lid. We were given directions to turn this way or that way, to grip tighter, to lean closer and so on.
Christ was then asked to cradle my cheek with his hand. The blind man was told to show joy and gratitude. We were directed to embrace one another. Christ leaned his cheek on the blind man’s head.
I was truly carried away during this moment. I felt as though I was in the arms of the Savior. I felt loved and I felt love. I felt his warm hand gently touch my face. I felt his emotion-filled breathing as I pressed my hand into the small of his back. I felt his soft cheek rest on my forehead.
These physical sensations exactly matched yet inadequately describe the spiritual feelings I was having. I am confident that I will have these same sensations – and more – when someday I repeat this experience with the Savior himself. I know Christ – The Son of God – came to earth in a physical body. I know what it must have been like to embrace him, when he was here – because of how I felt during this embrace, this closeness and this sweetness.
When the final picture was clicked, Nancy came and began cleaning the mud from my eye. She was crying a bit. So were others. So was Christ. I had been so carried away, I hadn’t noticed the emotions of the crew.
I drove down the dirt road, leaving the location, and after a few minutes began to weep. I wept for most of the drive home as I pondered the life of Jesus. I marveled at how real my experience felt. I was filled with gratitude for the Savior and marveled at the ‘actual’ miracle that had restored a man’s sight centuries ago.
I felt what that formerly blind man must have felt. He wanted to tell his family and anyone else who would listen that he now could see – that he had been healed by the Master. He certainly must have said, “look at me, I am changed, for now I see.”
I now wanted to share MY miracle with everyone. Not a miracle of receiving sight – and not just a miracle of ‘feeling’ held in the arms of the Savior (which was personally powerful) – but the miracle that he lives and loves us.
Dirk Cline
