Spiritual Cataract–Trauma!

A cataract is a clouding or fogging of the lens of the eyes. CLEAR LENS! CLEAR VISION! Cataract—-fog, cloud, confusion! Cataracts are just one of many factors that altar that coveted perfect 20/20 eye sight. Yet much like physical cataracts cloud our natural vision, spiritual cataracts cloud our spiritual vision.

They say age ain’t nothing but a number. But in the optic world, age is the number one risk factor for physical cataracts. As the years add up, so does the likelihood of damage to that delicate lens that helps keep vision clear.  And yet we can’t forget trauma. Any blunt or penetrating injury to the eye that damages the lens can cause traumatic cataracts at any age.

Have you ever taken time to consider how the wears and tears of this thing called life over the accumulated years may have dulled you spiritual vision? To live life is to experience trauma in some way. Whether a direct hit or a penetrating blow, stress and distress often leave us in a fog.

Family dysfunction, violence, financial devastation, broken relationships, addiction and prejudices of all kind are just some of the many traumas that penetrate the lens of our perspective.

Traumas distort our understanding of who we are, who God is, God’s plan for our lives and our connections with those around us.

As we march into a whole new decade, take some time to reflect on how life and trauma have affected the state of your spiritual vision. The great thing about God is if you ask, he will surely show you and help you remove them. Acknowledgement and self-awareness are the first steps to any form of healing.

In Jesus Christ we have victory over the traumas of this life and the gift of eternal life in the next!
DO YOU SEE WHAT GOD SEES?

#2020vision
#year2020
#vision2020
#doyouseewhatGodsees?
#sharpvision
#spiritualvision
Photo of traumatic cataract taken from New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM):
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm1204510

Spiritual Cataract–Scattered Light

 A cataract is a clouding or fogging of the lens of the eyes. CLEAR LENS! CLEAR VISION! Cataract—-fog, cloud, confusion! Cataracts are just one of many factors that altar that coveted perfect 20/20 eye sight. Yet much like physical cataracts cloud our natural vision, spiritual cataracts cloud our spiritual vision.

In God’s great design as you look at an object, light enters your eye and passes through the lens. A clear lens will direct the light to a specific part of the back of the eye so that the object appears clear. Yet with cataracts, the clouded lens literally scatters the light. Instead of the light converging to one point, it diverges to many.  The problem then is not necessarily the light.

In other words EVEN IF THE LIGHT IS PURE, THE CATARACT SCATTERS IT IN A WAY THAT ALTERS THE VISION.

Are there spiritual cataracts altering the light God has sent our way so we cannot see clearly? Are we missing the light of new opportunities that will take us in the right direction? Is there a haze in your lens that is causing you to miss the light of healing or restoration God has for your life? Have you not surrendered to Jesus, the purest light, the LIGHT of the world but for a spiritual cataract—a faulty lens? As we march into a whole new decade, take some time to reflect on the state of your spiritual vision. The great thing about God is if you ask, he will surely show you and help you remove them. Acknowledgement and self-awareness are the first steps to any form of healing. The light of your breakthrough or your answered prayers may be right before your eyes. Yet spiritual cataracts will alter that light in a way you cannot see it.

DO YOU SEE WHAT GOD SEES?

#2020vision

#year2020

#vision2020

#doyouseewhatGodsees?

#sharpvision

#spiritualvision

https://youtu.be/_gvdXfwYfhk. Video from the American Academy of Ophthalmology

Photos taken from the American Optometric Association https://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/eye-and-vision-problems/glossary-of-eye-and-vision-conditions/cataract

Spiritual Cataract

A cataract is a clouding or fogging of the lens of the eyes. The lens, so you know, brings rays of light together to the back of the eye so you can see! Amazing right? CLEAR LENS! CLEAR VISION! Cataract—-fog, cloud, confusion! Cataracts are just one of many factors that altar that coveted perfect 20/20 eye sight. Yet much like physical cataracts cloud our natural vision, spiritual cataracts cloud our spiritual vision.

Are there spiritual cataracts clouding your perspective, your direction or your outlook? I don’t know about you, but even now as I launch into the year 2020, I am striving to move closer to 20/20 spiritual vision. All that means is seeing more like God sees through his perfect lens. With clearer spiritual vision you are more likely to do what God wants you to do, go where God tells you to go and become who you’re destined you to be—becoming more like Jesus, living out your purpose and impacting the world as you should.
So as we march on to a whole new decade, take some time to reflect on the state of your spiritual vision. What are some spiritual cataracts clouding your lens? What is the fog or confusion blocking your vision? The great thing about God is if you ask, he will surely show you and help you remove them. Acknowledgement and self-awareness are the first steps to any form of healing. Do you see what God sees?
#year2020
#vision2020
#doyouseewhatGodsees?
#sharpvision
#spiritualvision

(Pic–cataract vs. normal eye)

Yep I See You Jesus #7

Hello there,

I know its been quite a while! Still here we are at installment #7 of — “Yep….I See You Jesus!” He’s still speaking all around us. So here we go!

Some of the best advice I’ve heard on several occasions is to intentionally try to meet God daily. In other words we must become attuned to where He is active, present and very much at work in our lives and the world around us despite the negativity that threatens to overshadow His glory and bring discouragement on our respective journeys.  Hence in my attempt to adhere to that wisdom and keep my eye on Jesus, I would love to share with you (whenever time allows, I’m not too lazy to write and for as long as I feel I should do it lol) an example of where I see God daily, especially through my encounters with people and in the lives of others.

 

As I sat baffled by this NY weather that seems to keep clinging to remnants of winter, I couldn’t help but think back to my birthday  weekend about 2 months ago, when I took a hike along some beautiful trails in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.  The faint rush of a small stream, the otherworldly gleam of a snow so white and the army of bare-limbed trees standing at attention protectively all around us were all welcomed distractions from  the biting, bone-chilling cold.  The destination—the majestic waterfall that the hotel attendant kept raving about.  The route—a good mile or more by foot.  As I walked, I couldn’t help but notice the hundreds of footprints of different sizes, shapes and depths dotted along the packed snow.  As a matter of fact it was the friendly attendant again who mentioned that the snow, although quite a bit in accumulation, was probably packed down enough to be able to still walk the trails.

 

As I walked atop however many inches of snow and ice, I tried my best to find different ways to avoid sustaining a really serious fall. I took my steps gingerly, trying desperately to make use of the patches of  grass and mud I spotted periodically,  until eventually I developed the bright idea of walking  within the path of the footprints I saw. But it turned out that idea was not so bright after all.  Some footprints were way too small and my attempts to step into them would just cause my foot to get entangled. Some were way too big, causing me to sink deeper than if I tried to walk my own path.  No footprint matched my own exactly, until I just finally gave up and decided to walk my own path.  I slipped and slid quite a few times, but despite going down I kept pushing  until I finally reached my destination—and boy was it worth it! A stair-step of smaller falls which led to a larger fall in a quiet secluded space.  Were it not for the cold, I could have sat in the stillness and beauty of that cove for hours.  Yet that hike reminded me of how God works.

 

Like the general  packed down snow I  walked on, many people, whether it be  distant ancestors, trailblazers, immediate family, colleagues, mentors or even people you never knew existed have walked before us and  created a general path that provides the opportunities we have today. But like the individual footprints that dotted the trail ways in my Poconos experience, in the end every person must walk their own unique path. You will never feel comfortable or get far trying to replicate or walk in the footsteps of others. Believe me I had some of the aches and pains to prove it! God in his creativity, love and wisdom has ordered your steps uniquely to reach your appointed destination.  Yet just like those before us, if we allow God through the power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to do so, we can add to that terrain so that others may have a solid foundation to walk into their own destiny. Understand that your footprints create a space to allow purpose to bloom in others!  Your footsteps form firm foundations for others to follow……yep I see you Jesus.

And Yet Still I Rise

With peace and blessings may you continue to rise always,

Stillirise323

Yep….I See You Jesus #6

Written in support of Alzheimer’s Awareness Month:

GOD’s glory is so overwhelming, we can sense Him all around us– if we just take time to perceive it. Welcome back to the 6th installment of ” Yep…I See You Jesus.” May your senses be more attuned to His presence day by day.

She looked vaguely familiar, but on further probing, we discovered we hadn’t met before. As she prepared to leave my office, her hand on the doorknob, she casually mentioned she was looking forward to going to Atlantic City for a few days with friends. Me wishing her a good time seemed like a welcomed opportunity to vent her feelings and share her story.

You see this beautiful gracious woman was one of a few siblings. Let’s call her Ms. Betty as an anonymous name. Yet she is the primary caretaker of a sister with Alzheimer’s disease – we’ll call her Ms. Lou. Alzheimer’s is a disease that mostly affects the brain and leads primarily to problems with memory, judgement and other high functioning intellectual activities. To have a loved one with this terrible disease is to witness them slowly slipping from your grasp on a steady decline right before your eyes.

With the family not recognizing the early stages of the disease, they mistakenly took her offensive and aggresive behavior as personal insults. Consequently, harboring fresh wounds from her uncontrollable tirades in times long passed, children and grandchildren had largely abandoned her. Furthermore, Ms. Lou had a boyfriend who endeavored to stand by her side, but in the end the devastation of her condition proved to be too much for him. Ms. Lou even has a twin sister– surely the genetic and spiritual bond that twins share would draw her almost identical counterpart to never forsake her. But riddled with fear that Ms. Lou’s fate would be her own, Ms. Lou’s condition pains her twin to see her.

Which leaves my patient Ms. Betty– who does everything for her sister short of living with her. Whether it’s cooking, overseeing her medical care, simply being present or a listening ear, Ms. Betty is her sister’s light in a very dark and devastating world, despite having her own marriage, children and grandchildren. In her times of mental clarity Ms. Lou questions her sister about her family. An innocent victim of Alzheimer’s, she doesn’t comprehend how she has hurt them. But on good days she laughs, jokes, wonders about her past and seems like her old self.

Despite it all, she knows her sister is her rock. Her constant grateful utterance “I don’t know what I would do without you” tells us that Ms. Betty’s love for her sister has transcended the walls of this disease. Sometimes it’s not enough to just act like Jesus. For some we must literally become like Jesus in someone’s life– bringing His presence, love, joy and hope.

Well done Ms. Betty– yep I see you Jesus.

I See You Jesus #5

The mark of God is imprinted all around us, if we would just take time to notice. Here is installment #5 of “I see you Jesus.”

As I stepped out of my car, nearly tumbling into a helpless heap on a slick layer of ice and snow in my apartment complex, I couldn’t help but think how much I hated cold weather and wonder for the hundredth time why I was still in New York City. Oh snow! How I’ve had such a tumultuous perspective on this force of nature! It amazes me how much I love it from the comfort of my own bed when not forced to travel in it; or how beautiful it is when it falls in its natural glistening white color; or how fun it can be when frolicking in it for play. But my how quickly my mind shifts when having to navigate snow in my travels to work or anywhere else! Or even worse, when the gleaming white color is replaced by a blanket of urban dirt and filth. Yet as I walked gingerly down the path to my apartment, I am almost sure God put these thoughts in my head as a reminder that once again His mind is so much beyond what we can comprehend. Snow is just another way to water the earth in the cold season. Imagine! No water from snow, no fertile soil. No fertile soil, no foundation for plants and trees to grow. No plants or trees, no oxygen to breath. No oxygen, no possibility of life for most living beings….most noticeably human beings. Furthermore, what helps to fill our world’s rivers and streams throughout many continents? Look at the variety of wildlife, vital to the ecosystem that are designed to live and thrive in snow? All of these important functions and this was just my surface understanding.

So even in something as mundane and challenging as snow, God’s wisdom, grandeur and complexity are on display. And who but God could intentionally design something so vital and still install the added benefit of providing a means for fun?! Skiing or snow-tubing anyone? Yep….I see you Jesus

I See You Jesus #4

The glory of God is all around us if we would just take time to perceive it. I hope to share with you when time allows how I see God’s beauty, love and glory shining in my life and the life of others even in the most seemingly ordinary ways. Here we go…

A time of silence, solitude and sitting before God was in order. So I booked a quick solo island getaway to do just that. Excited for the warmth and serene environment, I headed straight to the beach shortly after checking in. Passing the tour desk I quickly glimpsed a couple talking to the tour agent. I honestly thought to myself: “that’s an odd couple” and continued on.

She was at least a foot taller than him…. and mind you that was in flats. She was black, while with him being olive skinned it was hard to tell his origins. With her height and solid build she seemed to overpower him. Seeing them a few times over my stay I wondered what things they shared in common, what other non apparent differences lie between them and what was the story behind their love?

On my final night at dinner they happen to be seated next to my table. In my curiosity I peaked over a few times.  The connection, chemistry and camaderie between them was undeniable.
In the end after seeing their apparent happiness throughout the weekend, their differences didn’t matter. His obvious reservedness was a compliment to her more outgoing nature and for now they just seem to “fit.” The other couple I saw on my last day before leaving paradise— the 4 foot little person with his 5 foot 8 partner– served to reiterate the point.

God has made us in our own unique beauty, but in His love for all of us we should all fit together in love for one another. Whether that love is romantic, familial, neighborly or just as fellow human beings, let us all live connected together despite our differences…. in the adhesive of LOVE… yep I see you Jesus.

I See You Jesus #3

Some of the best advice I’ve heard on several occasions is to intentionally try to meet God daily. In other words we must become attuned to where He is active, present and very much at work in our lives and the world around us despite the negativity that threatens to overshadow His glory and bring discouragement on our respective journeys.
Hence in my attempt to adhere to that wisdom and keep my eye on Jesus, I would love to share with you (whenever time allows, I’m not too lazy to write and for as long as I feel I should do it lol) an example of where I see God daily, especially through my encounters with people and in the lives of others.
So here we are at entry #3.

We started out as ordinary coworkers—she was my medical assistant to be exact. She is an immigrant from Bangledesh while I am an immigrant from Jamaica. She is a devout Muslim, while I am a devout Christian. Between us there is about a 7 year age difference—no need to venture into the specific numbers. Yet despite our differences in just a few short years she has become a dear friend. It was one day at work that I broke down in tears and shared with her some heavy burdens I had been carrying in my personal life. Sure I had plenty of people to talk to and as a matter of fact I had confided in some close to me. But that particular day it was too much. That day, my Muslim friend from Bangladesh in the middle of a slow work day was a safe haven where I could be real, raw and vulnerable. She provided a space where I could bare my soul and receive the truth, comfort and gentle love I needed at that moment. Two people from very different worlds, yet God used her to minister to me about FAITH in a way that few people ever have– Christian or otherwise.

It’s easy to expect support from the likely staples in your life in the form of family and longtime friends. But only God can use the most unexpected circumstances and unlikely people to reach you just where you are when you need Him most. The light of Jesus shone through my new confidante that day despite our seemingly vast differences….yep I see you Jesus.

Side note: Thank you sis Sharon D. Highland for holding me accountable to keep posting after getting lax during the holiday. Lol. I so appreciate you. Iron sharpens iron. Blessings to you 🙂

I See You Jesus #2

Some of the best advice I’ve heard on many occasions is to intentionally try to meet God daily. In other words we must become attuned to where He is active, present and very much at work in our lives and the world around us despite the negativity that threatens to overshadow His glory and bring discouragement on our respective journeys.

Hence in my attempt to adhere to that wisdom and keep my eye on Jesus, I would love to share with you (whenever time allows, I’m not too lazy to write and for as long as I feel I should do it lol) an example of where I see God daily, especially through my encounters with people and in the lives of others.
So here we are at entry #2. This particular encounter took place at work where a fellow associate in another department tends to eat poorly and sometimes neglect his health issues. It’s not uncommon for us to lovingly scold him in regards to his poor management of his health.

On this particular day in his absence, a superior comes to me and says that the employee looked pretty sick earlier in the week and he was very concerned. With passion and intensity came the plea: “You gotta talk to him doc. I’m really worried about him.” The look on this man’s face and the concern in his voice was one like a father who is concerned for his son.
I don’t know about you but how many bosses would seize the opportunity to talk to a medical professional for the benefit of the employee simply because they care so deeply? Wouldn’t our work environments be more efficient and productive if it were filled with such love, selflessness and positive energy across the board?
The love of God is definitely in that relationship…yep I see you Jesus.

 

Stillirise323

I SEE YOU JESUS #1

1. A few times I have heard the wise advise that we should intentionally try to meet God daily. In other words become attuned to where He is active, present, very much at work in our lives and the world around us despite the negativity that threatens to overshadow His glory and bring discouragement on our respective journeys.  So in my attempt to adhere to that wisdom and keep my eye on Jesus, I would love to share with you (whenever time allows, I’m not too …lazy to write and for as long as I feel I should do it lol) an example of where I see God daily. Although God does such amazing things in our lives that it is so easy and don’t get me wrong appropriate to share our own testimonies, I hope to share more so about what I see God doing in and through the lives of others, even strangers. Or especially in the ways God meets me through random people. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES AS WELL AS I AM SURE IT WILL ENCOURAGE US ALL!
    
   So for my first entry of “I see you Jesus…” I want to share what happened this morning on my subway ride to the city. With the cold bleak weather, squeezed in with the throngs of people bustling to work on the dreaded F line, I was less than pleased to have to head out today. Yet sitting right in front of me, my irritation peaked at having to stand for the 40 minute ride, was the most beautiful display of father and daughter love to behold. Right in front of my eyes I could see a young Hispanic man, probably no older than 23 years old, shower his little 2 yr old princess with love. He gazed at her lovingly as she slept, nuzzled her while she giggled with delight, held her protectively from the crowd and the jostling of the train and handled her like she was the most beautiful treasure. In a Western world where increasingly men are absent from the family and especially men of certain minority ethnic groups get such a bad label, it was so nice to see this young man prove the stereotypes wrong and just love and treasure his little girl. I’m sure life is not perfect for this family as we all have our challenges, but several of us smiled as we watched their exchange the whole ride.
   Low and behold, I went to work with a better attitude and a smile on my face. Clearly, I saw God on that train this morning.
   If you don’t get it yet, GOD IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE LOVE. His beauty is everywhere if we just take the time to perceive it. Yep, I see you Jesus…