Our eyes
are marvels of human evolution. A combination of around 90 million rod and cone
cells help us perceive the beautiful world around us: light, colour, movement,
and myriad details that we sometimes don’t even notice. But despite the
incredible gift of sight that has been bestowed upon many of us, it can be
incredibly difficult to furnish – and maintain – a steadfast vision. Ours is a
life of constant stimulation; of goals in the future, of tasks at hand, and of
distractions that together can pull us in directions seen and unseen. With so
much going on in front of us, it has never been easier to miss the forest for
the trees.
Lent is
a time for us to take the retinas with which we see the world, zoom out, and
refocus – just like tapping the object you are taking a photo of on your
smartphone screen. It is an opportunity for us to reflect on the plethora of
people, places, and things we have seen, process the multitudes of ways in
which those experiences have given us life and meaning, and begin to chart a
course for the coming year. It is, if you will, a ‘spring cleaning’ of the
heart, mind, and soul.
Jesus
says that “those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.”
This is not so much a discouraging take on our humanly limitations, but rather
a reminder that we already perceive the light that God has given us – and that
with a little refocusing, resetting, and refreshing, we can begin to shine as
the beacons He intended us to be.
If you
are not convinced, that’s okay. But I challenge you to ask the person sitting
next to you about what they see in you, and to be ready for the surprising
amount of light that can fill their response.
"Reflection of a stained glass window on a wall, Frederiks Kirke, Copenhagen, Denmark", by Jebulon - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
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