"Cross-Eyed"
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3, NIV)
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Nothing worse than putting on my glasses and looking through a few days of dust, sweat, and gunk. I dislike dirty specs!
I usually wash them under warm water and Dawn dish soap. It really cuts the grim and leaves behind clear glasses! Today, I decided to go full gonzo and pop each lens out of the frame. I figured cleaning with alcohol wipes and sanitizing the frames would be good. Removal was flawless. I didn't drop either lens on the floor. I cleaned both and set them on the counter. So far so good!
I cleaned the frames and proceeded to reassemble my clean glasses. At this point I was pretty happy! I soon realized I couldn't see what I was doing minus my glasses with bifocals. After retrieving an older set of glasses, the reassembly went much smoother. There was some difficulty getting the lenses to snap back into place but after some cajoling they both settled in. I gave them each another polish with the glass cleaning cloth and put them on to see how they looked.
It was at this point that the world stopped turning, the sound around me silenced, and my balance was thrown out of kilter. A battle occurred inside my brain between the neurons and my optic nerve. Apparently, I had put the wrong lenses in the wrong side of the frames. Phew! Seriously, don't ever do this. It nearly wrecked me. It does explain why the lens was not fitting into the frame......
Times like these I get epiphanies about life and God and this was a lesson on about 30 different levels. When I felt like the cross-eyed dilemma was going to cause a brain wreck, it dawned on me that being "Cross" eyed is most important. The "Cross" balances all the turmoil and chaos, all the hate and bickering, and all the unrest and fear that surrounds us.
Corrie Ten Boom was known to have said, "If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest."
Today those words could not have been more timely and more in need for me. It taught me to clean glasses more carefully but moreso to keep my eyes on the "Cross" and let Jesus be my eyes. It works better this way. I see things differently and process things through a pure lens....His lens!
"A Musing Pastor"
PS: I will use more conventional cleaning methods going forward.