As most of the time I was reading, writing or talking with people who were quite near to me, there weren't many problems. But when I did look out of the window, or tried to see which birds were in the trees, I saw very fuzzy images! To see the distant horizon with any clarity was impossible.
In our Christian lives, we can also suffer if we are short sighted, and when our focus is only on immediate and pressing factors in our lives. We need to learn to see into the distance, with clarity, so that our lives are shaped by that far horizon, to which we are called.
St. Paul knew this secret. 'Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.' (2 Corinthians 4.16-18)
The essential contrast between our bodies and our spirits is not because our physicality is particularly evil, but because God in Christ has redeemed our physical nature, and promises a new existence and renewed creation for us - just beyond the far horizon. We currently live with both realities, with the old and the new overlapping. Therefore, our vision needs to be focused on the future, rather than on the increasingly failing present stuff around us.
Short sight, in spiritual terms, will lead to stunted hope and expectations.
Today, I will attempt to remember to put my lenses in! And I will keep training myself to look forward to what God has promised.
St. Paul again had this habit, which helped him. 'Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.' (Philippians 3.13,14)
Best wishes,
Best wishes,
Richard
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