Good News for You Worth a Second Look…
If our eyes are damaged or defective, there are several ways to restore or achieve perfect 20/20 vision, or seeing clearly from twenty feet what we should see…
In my early twenties, an eye test revealed my near-sightedness, and the optician set my prescription from my selections of the sharpest options from all the blurred letters, shapes, and contrasts on his screen.
From then on, wearing glasses had me seeing distant details I’d never thought possible. Everything looked great, most notably while driving at night, when I now recognized those single red blurs up ahead as separate taillights of other cars! I now humbly salute the bravery of anyone who travelled with me - pre-glasses.
If 20/20 vision is perfect for us, it’s nothing compared to how predatory creatures like eagles and hawks can see prey as small as rabbits from miles away. For their eyes have two fovea - or areas of visual acuity – that simultaneously focus on nearness and distance; a kind of double vision that could be confusing or even physically painful for us.
Yet when we’re facing tough choices, we may long for extra insights about what’s behind any pressures, or how the results might look. For we never want the embarrassment of later finding that we have clung to false hopes - or been deceived by empty threats.
However, that embarrassment can be an opportunity for us to explore God’s double vision, to help us anticipate and avoid any future pitfalls.
God’s double vision sees who we are beneath our facades or our defences, as well as who we can become through trusting him. But it’s no mere mind game, it’s loaded with acceptance and forgiveness - a release of God’s presence within us in a lifelong (and longer) relationship that reshapes us in a healthy mix of clarity, confidence, and compassion.
This double vision motivated Jesus’ love for the forgotten people. He knew they were worth a second look, which he showed through his healing and his teaching; his death and resurrection; and how he trained an unlikely mixed bunch of disciples to begin changing history by changing lives.
His grace still bridges the barriers that collect around self-serving religions; for he wants everyone to enjoy his touch of hope in our humdrum. And as we enjoy his grace, he encourages us to give others a second look, so they may enjoy it as well.
Noel Mitaxa