The Grace To Truly See

13 May

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” ~ Helen Keller

I consider myself a truly lucky individual.  I have had two-thirds of my heart destroyed by a virus but, with medication and a pacemaker, it continues beating and the doctor tells me I will probably die of something not cardiac-related.

I have received the “gift” of osteoarthritis from my mom (along with her seasonal allergies) yet, with some creative surgeries, I have two new hips and will be receiving new knees some day.

I have already sustained some damage to my optic nerves from pretty much lifelong glaucoma but, with the concentrated effort of my eye specialist, I am still seeing well and things are going along as normally as possible.

The only times that I think about the problems enumerated above are when they “act up” and make themselves more known.  That was the case yesterday with my eyes.  They did not exactly act up; however, I had my annual “big appointment” testing — pressure check, eye dilation, et cetera.  They are fine and, after an afternoon of blurry vision, all is well again.

There are many times that we do not focus upon the things that truly matter to us.  They become a “part of the furniture” in the landscape of our lives.  We only focus upon them when they flair up.  Physical sight is not the only sight with which we need to concern ourselves.  Spiritual sight is important as well.

There are many days that everything is going along smoothly.  Because of that, we do not focus upon God the way that we should.  When we lose our focus, we tend to drift.  Sin becomes more of an option that we choose and we find ourselves drifting further.

Many people find themselves drifting at this time in the Easter season.  We have been celebrating the Easter mystery for so long now that it has gone out of our focus.  By now we may only think about it since it is mentioned in church.  That is a danger to us.  If we take our eyes off of the saving mystery of Christ, we might put our eyes on something else that could lead us astray.

As Mr. Miyagi said to Daniel in “The Karate Kid”:  FOCUS!  Doing so will keep you on the straight and narrow.

FAITH ACTION:  Ask God to give you the grace to focus your sight on what truly matters so that you may stay on the path to the Kingdom this day.