Manitowoc: Our community is shaped by the lenses we look through | Matthew L. Sauer
I started wearing glasses when I was 25. Up until that point, I had no reason to believe my vision wasn’t “normal.”
As a kid, I was diagnosed with amblyopia (lazy eye). I wore an eye patch on my right eye for a year or so to strengthen my eye muscles. Then, I was told my vision was fine.
Then, I started Seminary, and everything seemed fine, until … one day I was in the back of the class, my favorite spot, and I got in trouble for talking. I was asking my friend Jon what was written on the chalkboard. I assumed everyone had trouble seeing it. Professor Smylie quipped I ought to try glasses. My friend Jon, ever so helpful, gave me his glasses. WOW! I could see the writing on the board quite clearly.
By the end of the week, I was at the ophthalmologist’s office and walked out with a prescription. When my glasses arrived, I could read road signs in enough time to turn slowly. I remember how lush and beautiful the landscape was for the first time. I noticed incredible architectural details I have never seen.
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Though I was by no means blind, my new vision made me realize the world around me was different than I thought it was; things were clearer, colors brighter and I could read the chalkboard.
Every couple of years, my prescription changes and the way I see the world goes from fuzzy to clear again. Recently, I have had to shift to bifocal glasses, and that was another big adjustment to the way I see things.
There is a metaphor for life in this biographical tale: the way we see the world around us is shaped by lenses we look through.
If you look through a dirty window, everything looks fuzzy and gloomy. Driving in the rain without wipers blinds you to the road. Sunglasses allow you to see in the bright sunshine, but blind you at night. You get the point, I am sure.
Now, there are “lenses” that we look through that never cover our eyes, but they shape how we see the world. The phrase “rose-colored” glasses is used to describe someone who chooses to look with optimism at the world around them. Each one of us has lenses we see through and they “color” the way we see what is going on in the world.
People see the world through the lenses of fear, the lenses of perfection, the lenses of self-preservation, the lenses of joy, the lenses of hope, the lenses of grief, the lenses of politics, the lenses of faith, etc. Whatever lenses we look through shape our perceptions of everything and everybody — and that perception may not be accurate.
When we are aware of the “glasses” we wear, we are able to take them off, or get a new prescription, or even change the color — we are able to see the world from another perspective. It is a good thing to change our prescription now and then. It is a good thing to see the world from a different perspective, even if it takes getting used to.
We have too many people who have locked themselves into seeing our community, people, faith, politics and life itself from only one perspective. It makes it hard to have deep, meaningful conversations, to grow and mature, to make any progress if we refuse to recognize the way we look at life may not be the only way to see the world.
Let’s do our community and our country a favor and get our eyes checked.
The Rev. Dr. Matthew L. Sauer is co-pastor of the Manitowoc Cooperative Ministry (First Reformed UCC, St. John’s UCC, First Presbyterian PCUSA), chaplain for the City of Manitowoc Police Department and a community leader. He may be reached at Matt@mcmunited.com.
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