The Way I See It

I took a blurry walk down memory lane today. A trip to a new eye doctor reminded me of the first time I went at age 14. Up until that time no one knew I had a vision problem. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know I had a vision problem. I thought my distorted view of the world was the way everyone else saw it. I'll never forget the day everything changed. Instead of glasses, my doctor started me out right away with contacts. Once I finally mastered the art of sticking a foreign object in my eye and keeping it there, I was set. I met my friends for our morning jaunt to the bus stop, when suddenly I saw something I had never seen before...leaves...on trees. I did not know people could actually SEE the individual leaves on trees. The trees in my world looked exactly like I had drawn them in the first grade; brown stumps with large green circles on top. But, now, in this whole new world I not only saw leaves, but actual blades of grass! I thought for sure I was seeing something no one else could see thanks to my miracle-working eye doctor. I grabbed the arms of my friends beside me, waved my hands frantically in the air, saying, "Do you see this??? Leaves, can you see the leaves???" After glancing at one another with an "I knew she had issues" look, they explained the leaves had been there, individually, all along. And, yes, they have always been able to see them. Grass blades too. Wow...I was floored. How had these wonders been all around me for my whole life and I had never seen them? That day was full of new discoveries and incredible revelations. It makes me think of the blind man given sight by Jesus in Mark 8:22-25. Jesus spit on his eyes and put His hands on the man, asked if he could see and the man responded, "I see men like trees walking." Then Jesus touched His eyes again and made him look up. Miraculously, the man was healed and could see everything clearly. I don't know why Jesus chose to heal the man in stages. I especially wonder about the blurry moment in between total darkness and perfect clarity. If Jesus had chosen to leave him in that state, his sight would have been better than before, but definitely impaired and incomplete. Yet, the man would probably think everyone saw the world the way he did and he never would have seen the face of Jesus clearly in front of him. When we blur the lines between the fleshly and the spiritual, we see "men like trees walking," or brown stumps with green circles on top. We begin to believe that everyone else sees things the way we do, so we never look up, never reach for clarity, never really seek Jesus. Through our blurred misperception, we miss God's hand in the world, and more tragically, we can't see Jesus standing right in front of us. But, if we point our face toward Jesus, and in submission, close our eyes behind His hands, He will perform a miraculous healing of our sight. Then when He gives the command to look up, we'll see the face of Jesus, clearly; maybe even for the very first time. And the sight of our Great Healer will change everything...Forever. Oh yeah, just for the record, I had a great check up; one more year without bifocals!