I Think I Can See

    I was blind. 

    Okay, I really was not actually blind, but I can remember the world before glasses.

     When I was a very young child, my dad dragged took me to a lot of airshows. He had been in the Marine Corps and then the Air Force, so it was a natural family outing.

      I can remember meeting all of the Thunderbird pilots and even sitting in an actual Thunderbird. Away from the hustle and bustle of the airshow crowds, I was sitting in the aircraft, I remember putting on the helmet and asking when we would take off.

     Yes, they all had their little chuckle and explained I was not allowed to fly the plane.

      Major sad face.

      I was six years old and I thought if I was FLYING the plane, that I would be able to SEE the planes.

      At all of the previous air shows, my father would point up at the sky and say, "Do you see that? They look like they are touching! They are flying very fast and very close together, but if you were up there, you could see how much space is really between each plane."

      Of course, I could not see anything. I could not see any airplanes in the sky at all.

      Later that same year, my eyes were checked and I was issued a pair of glasses.

     WOW!

     There really were planes and clouds in the sky!

      I could see! I could see!

     I had my glasses when Sammy Davis Jr. signed a napkin for me at my mom's office. He wasn't much taller than I was, he smelled of cigars, talked funny and had a zillion wrinkles that I could SEE.

     I had my glasses on when we flew over England for the first time and I could see the patchwork of the countryside from the airplane window.

     I could see!

     Or so I thought.

     A couple of years ago, I needed to go for a regular eye exam.

     It was supposed to be a quick check, order glasses and contacts and go on about my day.

     Very quickly that changed.

     I was in specialists offices for the rest of the day and most of the next week.

     There was a small problem in my brain. The doctors originally thought it was a really big problem. They thought a tumor was pressing on my left eye.

      As it turns out, it is a rather manageable condition, not a tumor at all, but because of the pressure on my left eye, some extra attention was given to my eyesight.

      Oh my!

      I love my eye doctor!

      My friends probably remember my first prescription from him.

     I sat outside on the patio at work and marvelled at a red crepe myrtle. I could see colors so vividly! I could see each red petal. It was amazing! It was as if my eyes and my brain had been given a box of chocolates.

      It was wonderful!

       I thought I could see. I thought I had seen everything amazing that the world had to offer.

      Then I got new glasses.

      It is amazing how this has changed my thought processes. How much more is there? How much more is there to see? To take in? To absorb? To learn?

      It fills my mind. There are so many more wavelengths of color than most humans can see. I know there is more. I now wonder how much more.

      It is faith behind the eyesight.

      On earth, we live in such a narrow field of perfection. Yes, we complain when it is too hot or too cold. We complain when something tastes badly.

      Did you know that 200 degrees Kelvin would be far too cold for us to survive? Well, what about the 199 degrees below that? We cannot even truly imagine how cold that would really be. How fortunate for us that the pH is correct, the gas supply in our air is mixed correctly and our temperatures are compatible with life.

     How fortunate? All of these things had to come together just right for humans to survive.

     I don't think it is an accident. I don't think it is an accident that there are so many more colors than I can see.

     Sight is an illusion. Although I absolutely LOVE to look at hand blown art glass and trees and so many other things, I know that what I see is only part of what is really there.

      There is so much more all around each of us. There is more than we will ever possibly know or understand. So, like it or not, we are all existing by faith.
      I think I can see now....