Glasses

I knew the dust was there, but I couldn’t see it. I had seen it earlier in the day, but then I took a shower, and I didn’t have my glasses on yet. I went over and rubbed my finger on the cabinet. Yup, dust. 

If I looked through a microscope I would see even more. There would be particles on particles, and other things that would be harder to identify. A telescope would likely not be useful at all for something so close. One has to have the right focus. 

In the right light, more dust shows up. In the sunlight, I can even see some dust just floating in the air, soon to land. 

From the right angle, everything looks different. 

When I got unrealistic, my Mom used to say that I was wearing rose colored glasses. There are some lucky people who seem to wear them all the time. 

When I think about some of our most difficult issues, I wonder if I should try a different perspective. What would immigration look like from the line in Mexico, for example? Or how does a parent think about abortion when their 13 year old daughter is assaulted and gets pregnant? If I lived in a high crime area, would I feel differently about gun rights?

I have a friend who doesn’t like to spend money. At all. He scrutinizes every bill like it is going to cheat him out of his last dime. He gets genuinely mad about government waste. I’ve become used to his behavior, but other people get annoyed with him. I wonder if they would be more understanding if they knew that he grew up picking lettuce near Salinas, California, and sleeping in his family’s car or in shelters. 

I try to see things from other perspectives. Sometimes I can’t quite get my head around the way that other people are thinking. Still, the exercise can be enlightening. It can be hard to engage with people who think differently than I do. I find myself getting angry, or frustrated, or even disregarding those with different views. I have to push myself to see things from their angle, and it is usually beneficial.

I’ve had clients who were anxious or depressed or struggling with past traumas, or who were raised in unloving homes or were abandoned by their parents. As a result of these things they look at the world through glasses that are smoky gray, or smudged, or have the wrong prescription, so that everything they see is slightly off. My job has been to help clean their lenses, or get some new ones. Sometimes by working to clean their glasses, I see better. 

For now we see in a mirror, dimly … (1 Cor. 13: 12)