I can see clearly now, the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sunshiny day
—Johnny Nash, 1972
* * *
I can’t believe my eyes! I can see clearly now!
The glasses I’ve worn for the past 65 years are suddenly obsolete. I haven’t started a day or left the house without them perched on my nose in ages.
STOP. You can’t see without your glasses. Go back and get them before you walk into a wall!
I stop. Think. Blink. Blink. Blink. And walk on, into a bright, sunshiny day.
For the past five years the colors and shapes of the world slowly faded. I was looking through a cloud.
And then three weeks ago, I had cataract surgery. My vision began improving immediately. But not for long. Considerable blurriness remained.
The ophthalmologist detected abrasions on my cornea and inserted a temporary “bandage contact.” Last Tuesday the bandage was removed. The colors of the world POPPED.
I see numerals on a digital clock across the room. I see sharp images on the television screen and the subtitles beneath them. I see road signs. I see through headlights. I see deer.
Thank you, Dr. Singh.
This past Tuesday I sat in the waiting room with other post-surgery patients. We chatted. We compared notes. We compared before and after. We were all thrilled to see clearly again.
I’ve been pondering this “vision thing.” I now see there’s more to it than meets the eye:
Eyesight is one thing. Insight is another.
Ophthalmologists improve eyesight for thousands of visually impaired people. But what about those who improve insight, the understanding of the world within and around us?
And that brought to mind a man who opened my eyes to an insight 50 years ago: Clarence Jordan.
Clarence was a maverick Bible scholar and the founder of Koinonia Farms in southern Georgia. From him I learned that the way of Jesus is not a way out of this world, but a certain way of being in this world, of being madly in love with the world—serving poor, hungry, sick, forgotten, forsaken, tormented, trampled, and oppressed people.
The way of Jesus, I saw clearly, isn’t Christianity. The way of Jesus is love. Love is the way, the truth, and the life.
Thank you, Clarence.
I’m guessing each of us can name someone who gave us insight, who opened our eyes to see and understand the world around and within us more clearly.
And for them, this week, let us give thanks.
The earth is visible and light is visible but the earth cannot be seen unless it is brightened by light. So, likewise for those things, which . . . everyone understands and acknowledges . . . to be most true, one must believe that they cannot be understood unless they are illumined by something else as by their own sun. Augustine, Soliloquies, Book I:15
One of my favorites was a logic professor who had been a teacher at the Presbyterian seminary in Richmond. Every day when class was over he said “now let us pass out”.
This is fantastic news. Congratulations! The wonders of science continues to help us as we limp along through this life. Truly, insights are another matter and do involve a blindness that is unique to itself. These insights, and the messengers who unexpectedly bring them have indeed come a long way to help us. Thanksgiving is indeed a good time to stop and remember those who were one day suddenly there in our lives, no matter how briefly. Their impact still travels with us to this day. Onward!
Having eyesight is truly wondrous. Congratulations to you and your doctor! But gaining insight is a double blessing. We may be surrounded by data or information, but gaining awareness and understanding clarifies the clutter of life. Clarence Jordan impacted me as well. But so have many others, including Thich Nhat Hanh, who taught me that we “inter-are.” That is, everything and everyone is connected to each other and nothing is “separate.” We are all tied together in the mutual web of life, the web of love. As a result I can see more clearly now!
Yes, for the wonders of science & research… Yay!! For the colors, the shapes, the clarity of your sight!! Insight makes us see better & clearer too.
Nat West came along in my life when I was lost. He saw into me, & saw something that I was blind to (in myself & hope for my future). He was the “son of a preacher man”. (It was 1974, Wisconsin. I was pregnant. My baby’s daddy was wigging out). Nat was introduced by a dear friend. He was married, he was black, he was paraplegic, & he was the most positive, loving, kind, wise people I had (& have) ever met. He sat with me. He listened. He spoke. He prayed with me. He was truly there in a way I had never experienced before. He said many kind, wise, helpful, positive things. Among them was “everyone is handicapped in some way – mine is visible – many are not”. He had been pronounced dead, numerous times, & doctors brought him back. He told me about what he saw “on the other side”, & knew there was nothing to fear – and how precious this life is. For years, tho he & Joan lived outside NOLA, he was there for me. And when he died, Joan called to tell me, & how much I meant to him. She wanted me to know. Nat shared himself, & his insights, his joy, his exuberant love of life. And I am grateful beyond measure…was blind, but now I see…
Thank you, Ardyth. I didn’t know this story.
Both of my grandmothers modeled what you described as “Jesus is not a way out of this world, but a certain way of being in this world, of being madly in love with the world—serving poor, hungry, sick, forgotten, forsaken, tormented, trampled, and oppressed people.
The way of Jesus, I saw clearly, isn’t Christianity. The way of Jesus is love.”
Yes! I have just re-read Gregory Boyd’s “The Myth of a Christian Nation.” Oh, would that we would all be Jesus-followers, rather than church-goers!
I love Clarence Jordan, Koinonia and his little book Cotton Patch Gospel. I found truth in the Civil Rights and the anti-Vietnam movements. I was moved by the Berrigan Brothers, Cesar Chavez, Dr. King.
I will give the nod on this day to Dr. Mary Walker. She was a professor of politics and government at a small college long before it became a university. I began my matriculation (aka enrollment) in the Fall of 1976. I was given to guitar, pot, Lao Tzu, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, and bartending at the 1872 Club to complement my $311 a month GI Bill allotment.
As it came to pass, I managed a mid-semester grade of D in American Government. Heck, I had got out of high school with a strong C average. This could not stand. I walked into Dr. Walker’s smoke-filled office. I said something to the effect of I don’t understand this grade. She took a long draw, exhaled, and said, “Have you tried studying?” I developed a study regimen: read once, highlight next, and read just before a test. I turned that D into a B.
In my senior year, I elected to take Dr. Walker’s Constitutional Law Class. I got an A, driven by 300 index cards and a desire to say thank you.
At Shepherd (then) College, I was a Poli Sci major and Dr. Mary Walker Buehrig was my advisor. I walked by her office one day (we didn’t have an appointment) and she beckoned me in, asking,”Are you happy here?” I wasn’t. She said, “How would you like to go to Vassar? I’m an alum and will write you a letter.” She did and I did. Changed my life completely. I bless her holy name on the regular.
Let us give thanks, indeed. I took the time to ponder those who opened my eyes … it took longer than I thought. I thank YOU, over and over again, for guiding us …
Hooray for your successful surgery, Randy!
Amen! Thank you Randy
The lady who opened my eyes to a new way of life was Francesca Wilson, whose home in London was rented out, room by room to musicians, actors, poets, artists, interesting people from all over the world to whom she charged very low rent. Her own room was furnished with second-hand oddments as were her cottages in Walberswick, Suffolk. And yet, she was the most well-read, well-educated person I’d ever met, celebrating her 80th birthday, still taking long walks well ahead of her younger companions. She was loved and respected by everyone for her generosity, her eccentricities and her erudition. She was among the first five women to graduate from Cambridge and I remember the night she tied her gown up with a string to walk in the rain down to the underground station to go to catch a train to Cambridge where she would be the honored guest speaker at the University. She had travelled all over the world helping and rescuing refugees, some of whom she brought to England, raised and educated them and one of whom lived in her house while I was there. My American middle-class values flew out the window while living in her house.
Eyesight, insight and out of sight, my brother. You and Paula made me grateful for your guidance in a number of ways ! You guys, as they say are out of sight but always here!
Thanks for this uplifting message! Reminds me of your old sermons. I think your outlook returned with your sight! ;-)I