Tip of My Iceberg

“How do you see through these things?”

Several family members were trying on my reading glasses, the ones I wear with my contacts so I can read my computer.

Vision is a funny thing; we only see as well as the lenses through which we look.

Mason put them on and started laughing. They’re magnifiers; it had to have felt like that place at the carnival with the strangely shaped mirrors that change the way you look. He turned his head to catch every nuance of weird as he saw his family in out-of-focus shapes.

That’s the beauty of that particular carnival attraction; nobody really looks great in those mirrors.

There are times when I awake and wander in the morning and don’t wear my lenses, so anything at a distance of more than six inches looks blurry. At that hour, I have no problems running into unexpected things.

As the day goes on, I need to be able to see well to maneuver what’s around me. Especially driving–no one wants me on the road without my corrective lenses.

What was funny to Mason and painful to the rest of my family as they peered through my readers is necessary for me to see clearly.

Lenses are significant, no matter what your age. What we require to see clearly is dependent on our families of origin, our circumstances, and how we’ve taken care of our sight as we get older.

One of my grands is requiring corrective lenses at a very young age, and I’m thrilled he’s able to get the help he needs now rather than squinting through years of misunderstanding what he sees.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all got corrective lenses? Where we could see circumstances and people around us with clarity and truth? Lenses that would allow us to understand what often seems vague and blurry.

Seeing clearly isn’t just about seeing others with accuracy–it’s the chance to glance at our own reflections and see who we really are, in all our imperfections and mess, not seeking to maintain an image but trying to be authentic with those around us. It’s the opportunity to own who we are without excuse and admit our shortcomings without justification.

That takes a leap of faith that many fear making. Such honesty doesn’t feel safe, and our genuineness often isn’t reciprocated in kind.

The apostle Paul, speaking to the church at Corinth, made a statement that baffled many: “We live by faith, not by sight.” He spoke of our choice to follow God in obedience, believing who He is and what He says is true. What we see in this world is often confusing; mixed messages from many sides cloud issues that should be obvious.

God says all people matter. He made all of us; He invested His love in each, and yet He invites us to make the relationship real with Him.

By faith.

It’s easy to become confused by what we see, what message is the loudest, most persistent. But really seeing the truth is God’s gift to us.

Put on the lens of faith and look at your world.

It may surprise you how straightforward the truth is.