Hi TSJ Peeps!
I hope you are finding some time to enjoy sunshine (and even some rain) as the summer is slipping by toward its season of fall produce and bright colors. It is beginning to show signs of leaves getting ready for shedding. It is a time of transition in nature and in our school year.
Many of you are gearing up for school and some of you have been saying good bye as you drop your child or children off on a college campus or set them up for commute from home. Indeed it is a season of change and our bodies and minds are trying already to adapt.
Each season brings some wavering emotions that can challenge our sense of security. We cannot read the fine print of the future. Sometimes we need magnifying lessons to see the good in the chaos of change!
Which brings me to today’s reflection about losing and finding my lenses — over and over. So much so that the other day they broke . One lens fell out – except not quite.
It seems similar to my spiritual journey. I misplace my spiritual lenses also. I waste time feeling confused and anxious. I keep searching for something to bring immediate comfort and clarity. Can you relate to that?
So I wonder, “What if my glasses could talk?”
The first thing they would tell are the stories of where they have been and of how much they are needed and how much fun they have playing hide and seek with me when I am most busy. They would tell you the places they have landed, patiently waiting for me to retrace my steps. Recently they landed in the church along with some other glasses waiting for their owners to claim them.
They would tell you wonderful stories of how they help me read and how often Solomon wants to put glasses on too.
“Where are my glasses?” is a perpetual question these days.(I blame it on lack of sleep or absent mindedness but I mostly blame it on mounting birthdays,
I wear contact lenses so I can see most things clearly. But I can’t read well at all without the “cheater” glasses. I have found a brand I like that can take a lot of abuse. They are flexible and durable and easily replaced. The picture of them is above.
The other day I topped all previous embarrassments about losing my reading glasses. (Something I hoped I would never do.)
John and I went to visit our dear friends who have had a long stint of home care and are now settled comfortably in a nursing home together. When we went we were required to come into an entrance and fill out two forms and take a Covid test and wait.
But while we stood filling out forms on the clipboards handed us I began fumbling for my glasses. I was sure I had brought them in. The search began quietly at first. I patted all of my pockets. I checked my little sports pouch. I patted the top of my head. No glasses.
As I muttered about not being able “to find my glasses” the woman in charge said, “I saw them when you came in so they must be here. I even saw their color.”
She was bent over looking at Covid tests as she spoke. John was filling out his form and highly focused on that so had nothing to offer. I can’t blame him. He has heard this way too many times.
Perhaps you have already guessed it. They were on my face sitting on my mask but not up on my eyes. Ugh!
But the most interesting story they would tell you is a little secret.
The Secret My Glasses Revealed
The other day something happened for the first time — after several months of abuse one of the lenses came out when I dragged the glasses out of my pants pocket. They got stuck. Oh no! The lens was in my pocket but there was a weird thread- like thing dangling from the frame. It looked so strange at first I figured a thread from my pants pocket stuck on them. I showed John and he immediately saw the problem.
That weird mysterious invisible thread actually holds the bottom of the lenses in by a tough – almost invisible – thread much like a fishing line. John has great patience for such things and rethreaded the ultra thin wire and they are like new!
He showed me there is a groove in the bottom part of the lens itself just right for that wire to nestle into place and be held there at the edge of the upper frames.
Muse Solomon Puts “His” Glasses on and clears his throat:
” Ms. Margie, I think God is like your glasses . . .
He just showed you how a thin cord – though unseen – holds the lenses together. Just think of how sturdy the invisible thread is – It keeps the frames light weight and clears your way to see the print unimpaired by heavy plastic.
Yes, I think God’s love is like that. Between you and Him is an Invisible, thread that carries the weight as He helps you see. He gives you vision. He knows what you need when you are short sighted. And no matter how many times you lose focus He is always pleased when He hears you miss Him and earnestly look for the joy and peace His love brings to your spiritual eyes.”.
Just musing a bit. Let’s stay connected with love and hope for our world and this new school year!
Margie and Solomon
