My glasses are perhaps the most foreign part of my body. They never seem to blend into me like my socks or t-shirt do. They sit on my face taking up space and always, always attract bits of heaven knows what. The worst thing my wife could ever do is touch her finger to the lens. The little smear is enough to stop me in my tracks. You see, my dad wore glasses. They were always so clean. He would sit on the side of his bed and he would go through a long and thorough job of spraying and wiping those lenses clean. As kids, we knew that we could not even think about touching his lenses. They were sacred and we knew it!
Today I have some lens cleaning rituals of my own. I know just the right places in our home where the light shines just right for me to see every alien dust particle on my glasses. A combination of blowing, my shirt tail, or a Kleenex is usually enough for me to rid the clear surface of all intruders. It is my daily little victory – to conquer my glasses and bring them under my command.
Recently I discovered a wonderful tool to combat the dust that so viciously gathers to block my vision – a pressurized air duster! I found it laying around my office the other day. This thing is amazing! Normally set aside for dusting off computer keyboards, this baby cleans my lenses without remorse. I'm a convert. This little pressurized can sits by my desk, always at the ready to clear up my vision.
I think, in many ways, this is my job at the Lutheran Church of Our Saviour; to help our community clear up her vision. As the Director of Discipleship Ministry I organize, create, and execute events, programs, and gatherings to help promote optical clarity. We need our eyes to see God at work among us. We need to blow away the alien dust particles that get between us and the beautiful things that God has set before us. Unlike my dad who was able to see even the smallest dust fragment on the outer most edge of his lenses, our churches often fail to see a ripe smear right in the middle of our view. This web site is intended to be a reminder to keep our glasses clean; to create a family of people who are picky about one very important thing: to see God clearly and to live in the light of that vision.
It's my prayer that we will become a people of deep faith, rich love, endless hope, and abundant joy as we grow in our relationship with Christ together.
Posted by Motorma60 on August 11, 2006 at 8:46 am
Thank you for the glasses analogy! I think it’s interesting with glasses we clean them and put them on in the morning, how’s it that they get so dirty in the next few hours — I’ve not touched them! mmm… this is alot like church life — I think I have a vision, but in fact God says, slow down sweety, I’ve got another plan — so perhaps its God who smears my glasses, so I look inside, reach up to him for direction, rather than allowing me to continue on in my direction. So the next time our glasses need cleaning, say a prayer, maybe God’s needing to have a little directional chat!