"I Can See Clearly Now"

I got my glasses in today. For the first time since I was 8 or 9, I'm wearing glasses. My eyes were 20/40 and 20/50 (right and left eyes, respectively), with a small astigmatism in my right eye. As a result of both that and my eyes having different quality of vision, they had different focal points for long distance. This means that I couldn't see in 3-D for anything beyond four or five feet. When I wear the glasses, the world is not only far clearer, but it comes to life in a way I had forgotten it could. I love it. I hadn't intended to wear them all the time, but now I don't see how I could not.

My optometrist told me that most people don't realize how bad their vision is until they see what they're missing. It was certainly true for me. I had known I couldn't see in 3-D, but forgotten what it was like to. I had gotten used to not reading signs until I was close to them. This is a brave new world, that has such vision in it.

And there is a Biblical application here, too. The Bible asks us "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" in Matthew 7:3. We see clearly what is wrong with others, but so often miss what is wrong with ourselves. Part of it is that we're not honest with ourselves. Our failings bring guilt or shame, often both, and so we hide them from the world and from ourselves. Another part is that we honestly don't see how we're coming across to others. That has happened to me a lot with my social habits. I'm naturally very introspective, so sometimes when I've thought about things deeply at a party, people have seen that as moody and anti-social, when I was really just thinking and enjoying myself thoroughly doing it. But I didn't see how it came across until someone pointed it out to me.

This verse is calling attention to our hypocrisy, first and foremost, in calling out other people without calling out ourselves first. I think there is another application of it, though. If you read on, it says to remove the plank from your own eye first so that you can see clearly to help your brother. We are supposed to tell each other things we see in each others' lives that are hurting the other person or people around them. Sometimes, the person you are trying to help will be blind to their need for help or tell themselves they're fine. And sometimes, they may be right that they are fine if you've simply missed the mark.

I think we all have things that cloud our spiritual vision, and all of them tend to make us near-sighted. We all get motes and planks in our eyes that obscure what we are meant to focus on: God. And we are to both examine ourselves and each other to help each other focus.

The group I'm a part of was more or less silent in correcting me for the better part of two years. I asked a bunch of people and no one offered answers. It was only after I had left the group for a few months and perhaps exhibited a few small changes that they finally opened up about the things they saw that I was doing that were hurting me. I'm not saying we should all correct each other all the time. It would be wearisome and frustrating for everyone. What I am saying is that you have a responsibility to examine yourselves and each other for things in life that are clouding our vision.

My eye exam is going to be more or less annual. Our spiritual eye exam needs to be daily on ourselves and on our friends as often as God leads us. The focus is not on pointing out how big the plank or mote is. It's not on how great we are for getting it out of their eyes. It's about them seeing God once it's out. And that's somethings we should all focus on.

Edit: It should be stressed that this post is not to anyone in particular or about anyone in particular. If someone has to be the focal point of it, let it be me. I want people to tell me what I'm doing wrong so I can change it if necessary. Until I'm aware of an issue, I can't change it.