Midweek Musing- 1/22/2025

There is a story I remember hearing which I guess took place before contact lenses were so popular. It is about a young woman in her dorm room preparing for a date with her boyfriend Max. Her roommate and friend asked why she never wore her glasses when they went out. With a smile, she replied, “Without my glasses, I look better to Max — and Max looks better to me!”

While humorous this anecdote can actually be used as an example to reveal something deeper which is just how often we adjust our vision to see only what we want to see. We often go about shaping the world to fit our beliefs and preferences and expectations.

In the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus confronts his disciples with a pointed question: “Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear?”

If we look at the context of this poignant question, we find it came after a miraculous feeding of thousands. Yet even after this miraculous event Jesus’s disciples remained preoccupied with their own worries about bread.

Somehow, they missed the bigger picture of God’s abundance. These disciple, were unable—or perhaps unwilling—to see the work of God at work right in front of them.

Much like the disciples or the young woman without her glasses, we often live our lives with similar blurred vision. We focus on what we know or believe, on what is comfortable or convenient, overlooking God’s work in places and people we might not expect.

We adjust our perspective, look away or even close our eyes to avoid facing hard truths. We ignore the ways Jesus calls us to live differently by acting with compassion for the marginalized, advocating justice for the oppressed, and seeking to humbly follow God with our whole heart.

Jesus’s ministry consistently emphasized the need for clear sight, an impactful vision. He healed the blind not only to restore their physical sight but as a sign of God’s desire to open all eyes to the truth of the Kingdom. This Kingdom, Jesus taught, is one where the last are first, the mighty are brought low, and love knows no boundaries. To live as followers of Christ, we must let him adjust our vision so that we see the world as Jesus does — with eyes of mercy, grace, and justice.

Jesus’s question to his disciples wasn’t limited to them. It’s a question for us today: Are we seeing the ways God is at work around us? Are we hearing the cries of those in need? Or are we choosing to focus only on what makes us comfortable, keeping our spiritual glasses off so that the world looks more appealing?

The truth is, God often works in the places we least expect — in the overlooked, the broken, and the seemingly impossible. When we open our eyes to see and our ears to hear, we begin to notice the ways God is calling us to participate in this work. We start to see the people we might otherwise ignore and hear the stories we might otherwise dismiss.

To follow Jesus is to live with clarity of vision, refusing to look away from the injustices and needs of the world. It means asking God to help us see others as God sees them — not with judgment or indifference, but with the boundless love and compassion of Christ. This clarity of vision also helps us see our own blind spots, inviting us to grow and realign our heart and mind with God’s purposes.

The woman who joked about her glasses was partially right: it’s tempting to live in a way that makes the world and ourselves look better than they are. But Jesus calls us to put on the lenses of faith, allowing us to see both the brokenness and the beauty of creation. Through this clear vision, we are empowered to act with compassion, pursue justice, and join in God’s redemptive work.

In Jesus’s ministry, he didn’t just restore physical sight but invited all of us to see the world anew. May we have the courage to see clearly and the faith to act on what we see.

Indeed, I pray that the Lord will open our eyes to see Gods hand at work in the world. And that God will open our ears to hear the cries of the hurting. May God help us to see clearly — not as we wish things were, but as they truly are so that we may have the courage to face what is broken, the wisdom to discern God’s will, and the willingness to love and embrace all people with the compassion of Christ.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Alleluia. Amen.