Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Learning to Focus

I got glasses yesterday. Not just any old pair of glasses, but glasses with progressive lenses. I had to. I could no longer see my computer and for a writer, that is not okay. I was on a bike ride when the Eyecare center called me to tell me the new glasses were in. I rode my bike directly there.

When they put my new glasses on me, the optician held a card up with varying sized writing on it.
"Which line do you want me to read?" I asked, "I can read them all."
She was surprised. She told me I was "made for progressive lenses." How proud does that make me!
"Can I wear these on my bike ride now?" I asked.
I stood up. The world was uncomfortably moving around me. It does take some getting used to. Peripheral vision is blurry and disorienting, unless you turn your head at just the right angle. I almost fell.
"Maybe," she said, "But you might not want to go far."

Fortunately, I was only a mile from home. So I decided I would ride around our neighborhood to see how quickly I adjusted. The first strange sensation was that my bike was twenty feet tall. The ground seemed so far away. Within a few minutes, that began to wane. I did have to consciously adjust my head position so that whatever I was looking at was in the correct section of the progressive lens correction. My first thought was, "I will never get used to that."

Here's the miracle. Within an hour, I almost forgot I was wearing glasses. And I could not only see in the distance, but when I shifted my gaze near, or mid-range, it was all clear! For the first time in many years, I could see everything clearly. I still had to consciously adjust my head position, but it became less and less arduous. I grew confident that I would learn.

"How do you do this, God?" I asked out loud. How does He do this? I am just one of billions of people He cares for, yet He sends me symbolic messages every day that are absolutely perfect for what I am going through. He was telling me that maybe right now my sight required glasses to see clearly, and I had to consciously and carefully adjust my movements and position to keep my focus. I was a little unbalanced, and stumbled now and then. One day, it would be automatic. My struggles to consciously adjust my focus where I needed to focus would one day cease. All would be made clear without effort or strain. Faith would be sight, and I would see God's face clearly everywhere in all its glory.
***************

Isaiah 35:5 

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

Acts 26:18 

To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Mark 10:52

And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

1 comment:

  1. I thank God for you daily! You are an incredible gift.
    God bless you. I went with he blended...I was40something when I needed bifocals...I was told "50% of the people do not acclimate to blended lenses...vanity kicked in...I will acclimate, said I, as I thought I don't want my glasses screaming "I'm old!!!!....lol. Faith. Sight. Indeed one day we will see.

    ReplyDelete

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