Today is a day for giving thanks. A day to stop for a moment and count your blessings. I'm thankful for family, friends, my home and my health. All good answers. Stock replies to the question du jour. But there is one thing that trumps the list. One answer that makes the others more meaningful. What I am most thankful for are my corrective lenses, the ones that give me better vision.
Several years ago circumstances were such that my vision was clouded. Some days it was so blurry I couldn't see straight. Closing my eyes didn't help much. My mind kept playing the scenes I had tried not to see. After months of poor vision I pieced together a prayer. Something like, "God please, please give me a glimpse. Let me see some of what You see. Help me understand."
And He let me see. Just a little here and there. Just enough to know that things aren't always as they seem. Through His eyes I see the miracle of typical development and the majesty of difference. With His vision, I see how truth and reality aren't the same but they co-exist. Courtesy of God's corrective lenses I see the temporary circumstances as they weave through the permanence of a soul. And because He allowed me to peek into the future, I was privy to a vision. A vision that was as real as today, a vision I cannot be convinced of otherwise.
There are many things I didn't see coming. There are a handful I did. There are things He knows that He is not showing. I will look to Him anyway. I am more than ok with my improved vision, my new perspective, even if it's partial. If hindsight is 20/20, perfect vision, then what is the value of a tiny bit of God's foresight?
So if I put on my glasses and look back over my list of family, friends, home and health, I see a family that saves me from selfishness, friends who honor me with their time and trust, a home that goes wherever I do and health that makes my numbered days feel endless.
On this Thanksgiving Day, how is your vision?
I'm glad to have found your blog!
ReplyDeleteI'm just poking around now, but your premise reminds me of this quotation, that I'm sure you know:
we must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. - e.m. forster
Lindsey
This is deep and I agree. I think when we think too much in our natural mind, we get in trouble. We weren't created to understand everything in the natural. We cleave to the One who has all the answers even if He doesn't share them. I remember my favorite hymn in our baptist church, because He lives, I can face tommorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone, because I know, oh, oh He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love this vision metaphor. I think that for most of us our vision is less clouded on holidays when society tells us to take stock of our surroundings. On most days, I think we all have impaired vision, willed or no. I think we often see what we want to see and miss what we want to miss. I think we need to train ourselves to see the imperfections, to embrace the things that seem less than ideal. It is these things that make life what it is. And beautiful.
ReplyDeleteVery good Christina. I pray for understanding for many things. Sometimes I receive it; sometimes I keep praying.
ReplyDeleteI will be referring to your Not My Fault article on Dec. 7 on this blog: http://titus2inaction.blogspot.com/
Warren
Lindsey- never assume I know anything! I didn't know that quote! It's perfect. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteChantel- I know you are at a loss for answers these days, vision clouded with tears. But I see that you see the truth.
Aidan- yes, lots of impaired vision in us all. Mu life is so much richer because I have been willing to look, to see the good and the not so good, to not be afraid to look.
Warren- I hear you, I do the same. Also thanks for referring to my Fault post!
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ReplyDeleteRead 1 Corinthians 13:12. We don't yet see clearly. Like we are squinting in a fog peering through a mist. But one day we will see as He does. We live by faith. But as we grow closer to Him, we begin to see more like Him. An eternal perspective is one of the greatest gifts we can receive.
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