To See or Not To See...

Today's quote is:
"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."
~ Hellen Keller ~

I've worn glasses since I was three years old. My parents took me to the eye specialist because I would stumble and bump into objects. Because I had a lazy left eye, I wore a patch covering my right eye during most of kindergarten to force my left eye to become stronger and focus better. While there was some improvement, it did not become as strong as my right eye.

Now it isn't as noticeable because of lightweight plastic lenses in my glasses, but as a child, the left lens of my glasses was thick and heavy, constantly making my glasses slide down on my nose.

Many years ago, I worked for a behavioral ophthalmologist - an eye doctor who specialized in vision training. He used eye muscle strengthening and other special eye exercises to help the eyes and brain work together to better interpret what the eyes see. The vision training was supposed to help people read better as well as help correct certain types of behavioral problems which were associated with poor vision.

My job was to watch the patients as they did the exercises he prescribed, charting the results and the way their eyes moved. Because of my eye problems, I had difficulty with certain exercises so he examined my eyes.

One of the things he found was that my eyes did not focus at the same point which frequently sent double images to my brain. My brain would react to the confusing double images by turning off one eye (usually the left one since it was the weaker one) for a fraction of a second. Without realizing it, I had learned to compensate somewhat by tilting my head slightly so both eyes would usually focus together. but it didn't fix the problem.

No wonder I would feel so clumsy and bump into things - I was frequently seeing out of only one eye! The doctor prescribed specific eye exercises to help my eyes work together better. The improvement was noticeable - my balance was better and I had an improved sense of general well-being.

This carried over into my spiritual life as well. So often, my mind and my heart would not focus at the same point - on Jesus. My eyes saw "reality" around me and my heart saw the Lord and what He said about my situation. This confusing spiritual double vision overwhelmed me to the point where my brain turned off the weaker image. Often it was the image of an overcoming Christ, leaving me with my fears. When that happened, I floundered and fell under the pressure.

But thankfully, over the years, God has worked with me, exercising my faith and my spiritual vision. When I see life's situations accurately with both my mind and heart, my fears are still there, but they don't overwhelm me. I am able to consciously shift my focus to Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith! He helps me rise above the fear and overcome in His strength.

How is your spiritual vision? Maybe it's time for a visit to the Great Ophthalmologist for some vision training?

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If you would like to join us today, simply blog about the quote on your blog site, then visit Heather, our hostess for the day at her site "Mumblings of a Mommy Monk" and leave your blog URL along with the other participants.

Be sure to read Heather's take on the quote and leave a comment. As always, you are invited to visit the blogs of the other participants as well!