Just a warning: this article's not for the squeamish.  And now that I have your attention: According to a recent AP story, a construction worker from Colorado received quite a surprise when the source of his toothache was finally identified.  Patrick Lawler had been suffering from pain in his mouth and blurry vision for a week when he finally decided to do something about it.  He went to a dentist office where his wife works and asked them to investigate. The mystery was quickly solved by an X-ray of Lawler's mouth.  There was a nail in his head.  That's right, a...nail...in...his...head.  A few days before, he had been working with a nail gun at a construction site when it backfired.  The gun sent a nail flying into a nearby piece of wood.  But what Lawler didn't know was that a second nail had been fired.  This one had struck Lawler, lodging itself in the roof of his mouth. Lawler's wife, Katerina, thought her boss was joking.  She couldn't believe that her husband had been eating ice cream to take care of the pain caused by a nail that was embedded in his head. After being transported to a nearby hospital Lawler underwent a four hour operation to remove the 4½ inch nail.  It had entered his brain and had just missed his right eye (hence the blurry vision). But wait, there's more.  One of the neurosurgeons on staff at the hospital said that it was the second time they had removed a nail that had been unknowingly fired into a patient's skull.  At the time of the story's publication, Lawler was expected to make a full recovery. I hope the irony isn't lost on you.  The man was hoping to take care of a nail in his head by eating ice cream and taking pain killers.  Of course, you can't fix the symptoms if you don't address the cause.  Until then, you're just working blind. In today's verse we're going to hear a warning from Peter.  If we don't address the root of our problems, we, too, will be blind and unable to fix it.  He says that a failure to grow spiritually can lead to spiritual blindness and an inability to do anything about it. I would ask you if you are blind this morning, but I don't' know if it would do any good.  The problem with spiritual blindness is that we don't usually know we've been afflicted.  We need someone else to tell us. So, instead, this morning, I would ask you to do the same thing that Lawler did.  Allow yourself to be examined by the Spirit of God.  Let God point out the causes of your pain.  And then give him an opportunity to fix them.