Partially Blind?
Rachel Carson is probably best known for her environmental classic Silent Spring. One of her other books that I have enjoyed is The Sense of Wonder. Here she writes, “For most of us, knowledge of our world comes largely through sight, yet we look about with such unseeing eyes that we are partially blind. One way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, ‘What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?’”
Something tells me that if we asked Carson’s two questions more often we would definitely begin to look at things differently. Far too many of us are guilty of taking our surrounding for granted. Numerous times I have presented slide shows featuring the beauty of the area I live in to local folks who afterwards say they can’t believe that such beauty exists all around them. They have quit seeing what is there.
Getting into photography seventeen years ago literally gave me a new set of eyes through which to see the world. I have become far more observant of my surroundings than I was before. Still, I have no doubt that there is much I miss every day. It would help me if I would remember to ask Carson’s two questions more often.
Being able to see truly is a gift from God. The scriptures teach us that with gift comes responsibility. Does it not, then, make sense that failure to see all God wants us to see is a sin? That we are expected to be good stewards of our vision? In the Gospels we read of various blind people seeking Jesus’ healing touch. Perhaps some of us who are “partially blind” need to ask for his healing touch as well.
–Chuck
(The photo of the morning glory seen above was recently taken in my yard.)