Lenses

I've had glasses and/or contacts for as long as I can remember. My first pair of glasses was pink and they were on the large side. I can still remember how excited I was when I finally reached the glorious age of contacts. It is my personal opinion that overnight contacts are one of man's greatest inventions. They are so convenient that I lose track of how long I've been wearing them. My optometrist says I should take them out at least once a week to clean them and rest my eyes. I'm busy. I usually remember to take them out when I can't see out of them anymore :). Yesterday they were getting a little cloudy, so I took them out and put my glasses on. My current glasses aren't as horrible as my initial pink ones, but they aren't "current" either. Not the right prescription and definitely not cool. When I first put them on, everything appears to be a little off (because they are ). But after just a few minutes things appear normal again, as if I'm seeing perfectly well.

Last night, tacky glasses firmly in place, I fell into bed and opened my bible to the book of John. Noah will be studying John when we crank school back up in a few weeks, so I figured it would be good for me to revisit it. Ten verses into John I read about how Jesus came into the very world that he created, only to have that world not recognize him. The very world that he created rejected him. Even "his own people". And I'm struck once again by the injustice of this. And then I start to wonder how often I fail to recognize him when he comes to me now. And it doesn't take me long to know the answer. Daily. Hourly. Because I know it is daily that I fail to recognize him in the face of the Chick-Fil-A employee, the college student, the easy to judge celebrity, the fellow church member, the child, my child, my friends, the orphan, the widow, the man walking down the street with all of his possessions slung over his back, and the list goes on.... And I'm saddened.

Each time I remove my glasses and place a new pair of contacts into my eyes, I'm taken back by how clearly I can see again! And it surprises me that it wasn't bothering me to wear my funky old glasses. But I guess that's just the way it goes with lenses...

This morning as I blinked and opened my eyes to my contact restored vision, I couldn't help but think about how much I would love to have such a quick fix for my heart to see clearly. But selfishness and busyness and the things of this world seem to constantly cloud my vision. And even worse, sometimes they don't cloud it at all. Sometimes the eyes of my heart easily adjust to the lenses that the world freely provides. And when that happens the orphan crisis looks like a hopeless cause. And the man walking down the street with all of his possessions slung over his back seems scary and dirty. And the Chick-Fil-A employee was placed there to serve me, not to be blessed by me. And the strung out celebrity is reaping what they've sown. And the fellow church member should wise up and see things the way I see them. And the college student just needs to grow up. And my child just needs to shape up. And before I know it, I can look all around and not see the face of Christ anywhere on anyone. And that scares me.

I really need some new glasses. I haven't replaced my old ones because I can never seem to swallow the cost. They are so expensive! I guess that's why I keep my worldly lenses around too. Maybe I haven't been fully willing to swallow the cost of replacing them. No doubt it will be expensive.

I plan to get some new glasses soon, but today I'm just praying for new lenses. Lenses that will allow me to recognize him. Lenses that will keep me from rejecting him. Unlike my wonderful overnight contacts, these lenses probably won't be convenient. They will open my eyes to things that my worldly lenses protect me from. They will take me places and show me faces that my worldly lenses can't see. But deep down that's what my heart desires. Lord give me your eyes.