H. G. Wells once penned a famous short story titled “In the Country of the Blind” about a mountain climber who stumbled into an isolated valley of blind people and mistakenly presumed he would be able to set himself up as their lord and master. I will not tell you how it ends; but will affirm that his story helped coin the sardonic phrase that “In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king!”
I will also affirm that such a concept may be true in theory, but not in the real world – at least the part about being a one-eyed man. I can attest to this as someone who has spent the last 36 hours with only one functioning eye.
It all came about when some miniscule foreign object got into my left eye, which I then rubbed in a vain attempt to cleanse. Apparently, in the process, I must have scratched my eyeball (or something akin to that). In due time, my eye was quite red, and pouring tears. Long story short… everything I read said to close the eye so as not to blink, then to place a patch on the eye to keep the lid closed, and finally to wear this patch for a couple of days. It seems the human eye will essentially heal itself in such a process.
I am happy to report that, as a result, I am now doing much better. My eye has indeed recovered, largely losing its redness, its tears, and its sensitivity along the way. Better yet, in the process, I have learned a lot.
To begin with, the whole matter has made me aware of how thankful I am for my eyesight, something which I will admit that, heretofore, I have all too frequently taken for granted. But more than this, the experience has given me a whole new appreciation for the phrase “The Blind Side”.
I say this because the fundamental issue I have faced over the last 36 hours concerns my depth perception. Trust me, when a person accustomed to looking at the world with two eyes suddenly looks at anything with just one eye, depth perception quickly becomes a major issue. It is honestly hard to judge just how far a given object is from one’s eye or one’s hand.
Perhaps the best way to describe it is to say one suddenly finds that he or she has a limited perspective on reality. And it is disconcerting to say the least.
As I have pondered this, I have concluded that life works much the same way spiritually. After all, do not we, as human beings, have a limited perspective on reality? We see things from our perspective; and that perspective is clearly limited.
God, however, sees things form a different perspective. Unlike us, He sees the full depth and breadth of our situation. That is to say that He sees both the gravity and the scope of our condition in this life. And this He sees in its entirety. Thus, He sees not only what is behind us, but also what is before us, and what ids ahead of us.
Given this, is it not in our best interest to trust Him and His perspective rather than our own?! And part of trusting His perspective entails our trusting in His forgiveness for yesterday, in His care for today, and in His guidance for tomorrow!
Back in the day, Johnny Nash had a number one hit with his song titled “I Can See Clearly Now.” More than ever before, I can relate to its lyrics. More to the point, I can relate to the notion of seeing more clearly than I once did. And I long for the day when I shall see more clearly than ever before.
For, as the Apostle Paul says (in First Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 12):
“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”
On that day, praise God, I will see things more clearly than I have ever seen them before! And when I do, “One-Eyed Jack” will finally and forever become “Two-Eyed Jack”!
SOURCES:
H. G. Wells’ Story:
http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/3/;
Johnny Nash’s Song:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Can_See_Clearly_Now;
God’ Word:
https://www.biblehub.com/1_corinthians/13-12.htm.
I will also affirm that such a concept may be true in theory, but not in the real world – at least the part about being a one-eyed man. I can attest to this as someone who has spent the last 36 hours with only one functioning eye.
It all came about when some miniscule foreign object got into my left eye, which I then rubbed in a vain attempt to cleanse. Apparently, in the process, I must have scratched my eyeball (or something akin to that). In due time, my eye was quite red, and pouring tears. Long story short… everything I read said to close the eye so as not to blink, then to place a patch on the eye to keep the lid closed, and finally to wear this patch for a couple of days. It seems the human eye will essentially heal itself in such a process.
I am happy to report that, as a result, I am now doing much better. My eye has indeed recovered, largely losing its redness, its tears, and its sensitivity along the way. Better yet, in the process, I have learned a lot.
To begin with, the whole matter has made me aware of how thankful I am for my eyesight, something which I will admit that, heretofore, I have all too frequently taken for granted. But more than this, the experience has given me a whole new appreciation for the phrase “The Blind Side”.
I say this because the fundamental issue I have faced over the last 36 hours concerns my depth perception. Trust me, when a person accustomed to looking at the world with two eyes suddenly looks at anything with just one eye, depth perception quickly becomes a major issue. It is honestly hard to judge just how far a given object is from one’s eye or one’s hand.
Perhaps the best way to describe it is to say one suddenly finds that he or she has a limited perspective on reality. And it is disconcerting to say the least.
As I have pondered this, I have concluded that life works much the same way spiritually. After all, do not we, as human beings, have a limited perspective on reality? We see things from our perspective; and that perspective is clearly limited.
God, however, sees things form a different perspective. Unlike us, He sees the full depth and breadth of our situation. That is to say that He sees both the gravity and the scope of our condition in this life. And this He sees in its entirety. Thus, He sees not only what is behind us, but also what is before us, and what ids ahead of us.
Given this, is it not in our best interest to trust Him and His perspective rather than our own?! And part of trusting His perspective entails our trusting in His forgiveness for yesterday, in His care for today, and in His guidance for tomorrow!
Back in the day, Johnny Nash had a number one hit with his song titled “I Can See Clearly Now.” More than ever before, I can relate to its lyrics. More to the point, I can relate to the notion of seeing more clearly than I once did. And I long for the day when I shall see more clearly than ever before.
For, as the Apostle Paul says (in First Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 12):
“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”
On that day, praise God, I will see things more clearly than I have ever seen them before! And when I do, “One-Eyed Jack” will finally and forever become “Two-Eyed Jack”!
SOURCES:
H. G. Wells’ Story:
http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/3/;
Johnny Nash’s Song:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Can_See_Clearly_Now;
God’ Word:
https://www.biblehub.com/1_corinthians/13-12.htm.