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I wear glasses, and have been tied to some form of them since fifth grade. Reading gave me a headache … or was it school in general? Whatever the cause, it was treated as minor astigmatism, or should I say, partially treated? You see, in order for the glasses to work, you have to remember to put them on, that is, if you remembered to bring them to school in the first place. Yet, the antithesis of cool would have been for the adolescent me to borrow my great-aunt’s chain in order to secure the glasses around my neck. Such was my on again, off again dance with the optometrist until the letters got a bit fuzzy in my manuscript when reading it from the pulpit. Strengthened reading lenses then proved sufficient until the people in the pews also became fuzzy to my aging eyes. With that, I went full-time and full-on with the spectacles, bifocals and all. Though I’ve never been tempted by contacts or lasik surgery, I’ve seldom been satisfied with my frames, either. I’m missing the raw material that would allow my eyeglasses to transform my countenance into dashing and professorial.
With age, the lenses of the eye become less flexible, making it difficult to focus on close objects, and I try not to be offended that the name of this condition is Presbyopia. Sounds like the cruel joke of an ophthalmologist who was coerced into serving on the Session of a hidebound church mired in tradition. Thus, We’ve never done it that way = Presbyopia. Presbyopia can sneak up on you. You may not realize the words are fuzzy until someone points out that you said, No Cows Allowed, but the sign said, No Cash Allowed. So, your Holstein is welcome, but don’t leave home without your American Express.
Let’s be honest, you may be singing I Can See Clearly Now, but your clarity of vision may be hindered by inflexibility, a hardening of bias, an unwillingness to consider what someone else is seeing, or a refusal to acknowledge evidence. Too often, we fail to register that our approach to the world and those who fill it has left us like the partially sighted man in Bethsaida, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” This is one of the few instances in scripture where it takes Jesus two tries to accomplish his intention. Apparently, getting to clarity is a formidable task. It requires counsel and the flexibility to accept help or tolerate an opinion. Open eyes must be paired with an open mind. Similarly, clarity is impossible for the closed heart. “Open my eyes, that I may see; Glimpses of truth, Thou hast for me.”
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