Hello Thursday

The week is rolling along. For me, it is day 3 after eye surgery. I know, it is just cataract surgery, something that many people have gone through and that is not that difficult to go through. But it was the 1st time that I have gone through this surgery. I wasn't sure what to expect. Nor did I know what the week was going to be like. So for me, it was a challenging day on Monday and then it has been challenging all week.

Service last night was indeed a challenge. Reading with the left eye, trying to see folks with the right eye. Leave the glasses on? Take the glasses off? As I read the Passion narrative, I had the glasses on. Sounds easy. It was. Except for the right eye. Try doing the Scripture readings with one eye closed. I can empathize (to a point) with someone who has lost their vision or have limited vision in one eye. To wear my glasses, I cannot see out the right eye. It is nothing but a blur. (As I type, I have the right eye closed). I cannot imagine how challenging life is for someone who has vision in only one eye. It was hard doing the reading.

Then the sermon. I cannot see the laptop with my glasses off. (For those who don't know, St. John uses power point for the sermon and the sermons.) So do I leave the glasses on and see the laptop or take the glasses off and be able to see the screen? Yet, without my glasses, I can actually see the faces of the members who sit in the pews. Challenges.

And here we are moving towards the 2nd Sunday in Lent. Lent is that powerful season of the church year that focuses our attention on Jesus Christ, on His Passion. Yes, there is the emphasis on the importance on reflection on our sinfulness and the need for repentance. But if the only focus is upon me and what I do, I have lost the true focus of the season. It becomes about me. If it is about me, then it becomes about my piety and my works. That is wrong. It is about Jesus Christ and His works, not mine. He takes upon Himself my sins, my wretchedness. He is my Savior. I am not my Savior. Keep that thought in mind.

Looking to the cross. I am starting to see the cross more clearly. I am given the gift to have my eyes refocused. Show me the cross. Show me my Savior. Show me the tomb. Show me the empty tomb. And there is my celebration! There is my hope. To Christ be the glory. All praise be to Him as I walk through this Lenten season.