a blind eye

I went this past week for a free LASIK eye examination. LASIK is one type of laser surgery that involves reshaping your eyeball with a high-powered laser. Admittedly, that’s an over-simplification.

The doctor confirmed what I already knew -- I’m basically blind. Take my glasses off and I’ll walk straight into the wall. With my glasses off, everyone looks pretty.

I began wearing glasses in the third grade; to be honest, it’s hard to remember life without glasses. Every morning I reach over to the night stand, feel for my glasses, and start the day.

You can track fashion trends by looking through one of my photo albums. The “lost years” had to be the 1980s when big, and I mean really big, glasses were in style. Though I’m ashamed to admit this, I even had a pair of red glasses at one point in the 1980s. Not red lenses -- red frames! Surprisingly, most of those pictures have somehow disappeared :-)

Bad fashion is an equal opportunity employer and blindness isn’t restricted only to eyesight.

Believe it or not, I pass many blind people every day who are driving cars or waiting in line at Albertsons. Some wear glasses and some do not. Worst of all, many don’t even know they are blind.

Some are blind to the needs of those around them. Others are living with no vision for their life. Many of the walking blind fail to see God’s fingerprints, the imprint he has left on them.

Spiritual blindness may be the most insidious form of blindness. It means our lives are out of focus with God’s plan for us. Dreams and opportunities look fuzzy and we just assume that everything is normal.

May your spiritual eyesight come into great focus this week!