A New Set of Eyes

I've often thought I could use a sense upgrade. A new set of eyes, a better sense of smell. I usually think it metaphorically.

It's when I suddenly look at the world around me with a better appreciation for what it has to offer. The blackness of bare branches against a bright blue winter sky. The overwhelming scent of honeysuckle on a June evening. The soft shush of the creek that runs behind our house.

I think to myself: Why don't I notice this every day and revel in it?

But, for some of us, habitual glasses and contact-wearers, we really could use a new set of eyes--say, one with a slightly different curvature of the cornea.

It's really that simple. A flatter or steeper cornea is really all most of need to say goodbye to glasses.

More than 10 years ago, I worked for a small PR agency. Though it was the most harrowing seven months of my professional career (due to two control-freak/schizophrenic boss-owners), one good thing came out of it. I got an insider's view of laser vision correction surgery.

One of my clients was an ophthalmology group, and a key part of their practice was laser vision correction. I got to hear all the pros and cons of the procedure (though there really weren't many cons), and I got to sit in on focus groups with people who had gone through PRK or LASIK surgeries. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive-- it was life-changing, they said.

Then and there, I made myself a little promise: This is something I will do for myself one day.

That day came three Fridays ago--January 21, 2011.

I still keep thinking I need to reach for my glasses at night, or take out my contacts. A glasses-wearer since I was five, and a contact-wearer since ten, it's going to be a hard habit to break.

But, I think I can live with that...

The miracle of the surgery isn't that your vision is necessarily any different or better, but... it is always there.

And, it's not just there through a layer of glass or thin contact polymer.

It's kind of like our vision as corrected by God. When we're tuned into God and His plan for our life, we see things differently. Sure, our world is often the same about us, but an extra layer of care and concern and hassle is removed. We see obstacles as challenges and accept them gracefully. we view every day tasks as a blessing.

That's a heavenly kind of vision correction I could really get used to!

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.

Matthew 6:22

Dear Lord: I thank You for the marvelous blessing of my new physical eyesight, but I also pray that You will continue to remind me of the importance of my interior eye. Help sculpt and train my spiritual eyesight, so that my soul will be filled with Your radiance and light. Amen.