Bi-Focularity

Probably not a word.  But it occurred to me one night as I was driving back from Springfield.  Isn't it amazing how such random thoughts can become fodder for stuff bloggers want to write about?  Aren't we a pathetic lot?

Anyway, I have worn glasses for about 20 years.  For my first 26 years of breathing I was always proud of my keen eyesight, boasting to those around me who had glasses/contacts that I was never encumbered by these devices, and I didn't even eat carrots (which, supposedly, are crucial for maintaining healthy vision).  Then things began to get blurry.

I denied it for as long as I could, then went to an optometrist and was astounded at how much detail I wasn't seeing until I got my first pair of specs.  Ever since, I have had to upgrade the strength of the lenses to keep up with diminishing ocular perception (just thought I'd try out a new phrase).

About three years ago my optometrist - who, by the way, always finds it necessary to tell me a ripping church/minister joke when I plop down in the exam chair - informed me, post-exam, that I was very close to needing bifocals.

How could it be?  One so young and vibrant succumbing to the demons of the geriatric world.  What was next, to be strapped to a gurney, shuttled to the nearest nursing home and condemned to BINGO hell?

As you might guess, I fervently resisted - which I should also do when he begins telling one of his painfully lame jokes - and he suggested that, as a temporary measure, he could either set the strength for near or distant vision.  Which would I prefer?  Being more interested in reading than bird-watching, I had him prepare the new lenses with the prescription needed for sharp "near" vision.

I've had him do this for three years.  I am losing ground in the distance.  I have not been unaware of this.  I have intentionally avoided the optometrist's lair for nearly two years now because I know what is next.  I'm also giving him time to bolster his cache of religious jokes.  In the meantime, my current spectacles provide good mid-range and distant vision, but generally, when reading, I drop my vision and go it sans lenses.

On my recent night drive, to alleviate boredom, I looked at the road ahead first through my glasses, then above them.  I was reminded of my need for vision at both distances.

And that is when I saw something else.  My resistance to see clearly in both ranges is a metaphor for the resistance of so many (myself included) to see the distant layers before us.

Most church members are great as seeing the close things.  We notice when things are not right in terms of our own life, our church's life, and the lives of those closest to us.  In fact, we don't just notice, we focus on those areas.  We schedule and navigate our lives according to those areas.

But my eyes and heart were not created to see just what is near.  There are issues and people at a blurry distance which need to be brought into focus.

As I get older, in contrast to my physical sight, my bi-focularity has improved.  I am seeing better both near and far.  I continue to be introspective about my walk with God, striving consistently to honor Him by word, deed and thought.  I also am fairly diligent about keeping my finger on the pulse of my church family, working toward strengthening the Body of Christ in every way I can.  But I am becoming more aware that in the fuzzy distance are people and needs and issues that I cannot ignore.  "Out of sight" is no excuse for "out of mind."

Often we have to squint as we look beyond the borders of our personal spiritual realm.  The Christian community has not always been good at focusing on the issues and people of the world, though we claim they are the heart of our mission.  Some of the issues we see dimly are the AIDS epidemic, the ravaged environment, family dysfunction, struggles for sexual identity, poverty, human trafficking and genocide, corruption and injustice in various arenas.  Though the horizon may be blurry, nondescript souls cry out.  I may not always see, but I can hear.

Loving and acting in love toward those in the distance is difficult.  Those people and problems "out there" are not on my To-Do List.  They make me uncomfortable.  They make me wince.  Sometimes they make me turn and run.  But my running only enables an escape from the sight of the need, not its existence.  I need new eyes and redirected feet.

Love the brothers?  You bet.  Love the others?  A must.

Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'  And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

Matthew 25:34-40