Optics

Optics matter, even if the optics are words.  When one thinks of the word it’s usually linked to sights.  We visualize the world around us, we see and experience art, beauty, and relationships, and we even imagine what could be.  What we don’t often think about, at least I didn’t until recently, is the links between our sight and the words and principles I stand by. 
 
I find myself seeing tall buildings, incredible designs and patterns, and discovering beauty in unusual places.  The process teaches me that life is willing to show us more if we are willing to let our optics go free.  Once the inviration is unleashed you find God’s handwriting everywhere!  In a simple hello there is an unspoken chapter given from one to another.  As playful conversations unfold, unfinished visuals decades old are completed in ways one could never anticipate.  Even in the casual greetings of a stranger one discovers God’s gift of mercy and acceptance.
 
These are powerful paradigms waiting to unfold in your life and mine.  Yet a business colleague inadvertently unlocked a door I didn’t know was there.  The reason for my blindness was simple.  I see the meaning of words.  I understand the literal and metaphoric meaning.  Yet I don’t visualize these things.  I was asked to look at a paragraph for its optics.  It was an amazing experience!  Everything unfolded in a new way – helpful, enlightening, and challenging all at the same time.
 
Far too often I know what it means to be God’s child.  I understand what living right means – literally, metaphorically, and often physically.  Yet I’ve never really thought of it optically.  When someone says “the path of right-living people is level.  The Leveler evens the road for the right-living.”  (Isaiah 26.7) I see something different today.  I see a world where people see the model I desire to live.  I find a community reflecting the relationships I hold close to my heart.  I feel, experience, and see God in the world around me.  It is a wonderful way to start and live a day.