Vision

When I was in 2nd grade, my teacher, Mrs. Schaeffer, knew the tell-tale signs. She saw me squinting from the back row. She knew I was having trouble seeing from the back of the class. I was so shy, I was afraid (or too proud) to admit I couldn't read her handwriting on the chalkboard. She must have had a chat with my mom, because after the last parent/teacher conference that school year, mom came home and gently suggested, "we need to schedule an appointment with Dr. VanArsdal," who was our family's optometrist.

That was the summer of 1972.

I hated my first pair of glasses! Thick lenses, an ugly gray/green plastic rectangular frame--yuk!
I remember thinking, 'I should have picked cool wire-rimmed glasses like John Denver." But still, I was very appreciative of how much better I COULD SEE! I could see the birds flying way up high up in the sky, could read road signs, and best of all, I could read my piano music better! But every once in a while, I would see dark spots float around in my line of vision.

And they still plague me. Floaters, they're called. Basically, they are clumps of the gel-like substance contained in the eyes. Like lumps in gravy, I suppose. As my eyes become older and weaker, the more prominent and bothersome these dark clumps become.

I can no longer use a microscope. The floaters are so numerous and dense, they are all I see.

On snowy or bright sunny days, the floaters appear to be small rodents scurrying around.

At night, road signs are sometimes blurry because of a floater that 'won't go away'...

No matter how much I look in the opposite direction or blink my eyes to get them to move around, these lumpy-clumps WILL NOT GO AWAY!

There is no surgery or medicine, no laser, no corrective glasses or contact lenses to make my eye gel smooth and clear again. My optometrist did tell me that I have something to look forward to.

When I'm 70-75 years old, gravity will eventually take hold and the floaters will sink to the bottom, much like the rest of my body! Get excited!

Sure, perfect vision would be GREAT! I would LOVE to look up at the sky and see God's perfect canvas of bright yellow sun against the softest blue hue imaginable without blemish. To take an old fashioned sleigh ride on a blanket of pure white fresh-fallen snow would be a dream come true.

My sight-challenge, however, is not that I have floaters, but that I desire perfection in my vision.

And, taking this lesson a bit further, shame on me for seeing your imperfections when I should have the vision to know that I'm just like you--a sinner, imperfect and blind most of the time to what's really important in life.

Hindsight, foresight, 'if only I could have seen then what I see now' sight...That's the tricky thing about vision. It's not about what you see, but often about what you don't see. I think that's called...stepping out in faith?

My floaters will continue to give me grief, but they will not and cannot steal my ability to see.

Vision is clearly focusing on the beauty around me and not paying attention to the dark floaters that hover.

How's your vision?