Floaters
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
That’s not hyperbole. That’s fact.
Let me rephrase it this way.
My eyes were not to be believed.
A few years ago I started wearing reading glasses. Nudged by my having to squint to see small font, I finally saw an Ophthalmologist.
She was as lovely as can be, and informed me that I had presbyopia and would be in need of aid to boost my sight.
While this wasn’t the best of news, being fitted for a pair of reading glasses cleared my vision in ways I didn’t believe, so I got myself a set of glasses in the recommended power.
More than a few months ago, I noticed those glasses weren’t working quite as well. I would put them on and still have to squint.
The basic ophthalmology knowledge I had pointed to one thing (or so I thought). My eyesight was getting worse and I needed a higher powered lens to keep my vision squint- free.
The pragmatist in me purchased a couple of glasses with higher power and for a few months they worked fine, until they didn’t.
Stuck with the fear of rapidly declining vision, I still procrastinated my appointment to the ophthalmologist for a review grounded by a fear of bad news.
Then tonight happened. The pair I was using snapped (on one handle ) so I dug into the original stack of glasses I had bought and pulled out a fresh pair. Unopened, unworn but with the same power originally prescribed.
In all honesty I really didn’t expect a lot, having been convinced that my eyesight needed something more powerful.
I put on the new glasses with the old power and miracle upon miracles it was as though a hazy film had been rolled off my eyeballs.
Blurry script turned crisp and I could read again. It read better than the higher power lenses.
That was when the gears in my head began to turn. I picked up a microfiber cloth , some warm water and soap and proceeded to clean the lenses of my older glasses and voila! The miraculous happened.
My glasses could see better than I could imagine.
You may be saying duh! You didn’t know to clean your glasses?
I did. I just didn’t know the right way. I had wiped them off clothes I was wearing (which apparently is a no- no), I had used the tiny cloth that comes with it to clean (again didn’t work ).
I just had never tried this method.
The good news is, my ignorance got me one result and my knowledge got me another.
Paul mentions this just as he wraps up his famous chapter defining love.1
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror then but then we shall see face to face.
I was looking through a poor reflection because I hadn’t cleaned my spectacles well and that had led me to the wrong conclusions – needing to see an ophthalmologist for my failing eyesight, or needing to buy glasses with higher power.
It’s a good reminder of what colours my perspectives.
I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve looked at situations on this planet and wondered why life doesn’t make sense? If you have a pulse, you’ve probably felt the same thing.
Something happens that you can’t explain, regardless of how strong your faith is or just how well you believe.
You want to know the truth?
There are some things we just will not understand.
That’s about as counter intuitive as we can get because as humans we are wired to dig for understanding and even if our results are not what we want or expect, there is something about understanding a situation or being able to explain it, that gives us a certain level of calm.
On this side of eternity, there are things we can’t see because the lens of life is tainted with the sin of the world and we can’t get it clean by motivation, hard work or self taught theories.
What we can do is trust that the right cleaning method which involved the blood of Christ has bought us a ticket to the place where things will fall into place.
A place where there will be full on clarity. A place where everything that hasn’t made sense will be untangled.
Until then, you can try your best but don’t come to the wrong conclusion just because you’re wearing a fogged up lens.
Like me, you’re not supposed to believe your eyes.
1 1st Corinthians 13v9-10