Faith & Insight: How we see things

Early in July, I awoke with a shock. I had no vision in my left eye. Since then I’ve had two surgeries, numerous consultations, pain, disorientation, and lots of eye drops. My vision is gradually returning but, for the present, half of my eyesight is a shaky blur. I’m seeing things differently.

Jesus once taught, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23)

A lot of things can distort our vision, bringing darkness to our soul. Things like prejudice, conceit, anger, hate and greed make a difference in how we see things. So, through what lens should we be looking at life?

Jesus was once asked what he thought was the greatest of the hundreds of commandments in the Torah. He answered in Matthew 22:37-39, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

If all biblical teachings are wrapped up in love, how about love becoming the lens through which we see the world?

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

What would happen if we all began to see everything through eyes of love?

“Yes, I think to myself what a wonderful world.” (By Bob Thiele and George David Weiss, first sung by Louis Armstrong).

Bruce Henderson is minister of Airport Road Church of Christ, http://www.carsoncitychurchofchrist.com.