Mohney: Using the gifts of sight and insight

My mother had eyes in the back of her head. I'm sure of it. When she was in one room and we children were in another, she knew exactly what we were doing.

It wasn't until years later that I understood there are different kinds of sight, that we "see" in many ways.

Physical sight, obviously, is a most precious gift which we should never take for granted. As a junior in high school, I went on our school's annual spring trip to Washington, D.C. The Japanese cherry trees were in bloom, and surely there is no place in the world more beautiful than our nation's capital in the springtime. It's a fairyland of soft color and fragrance.

The day our group was there, a blind person was seated on the second step. Instead of the customary cup, he had a sign that said, "It's springtime, and I'm blind." Since that day, every time I am aware of beauty in the physical world, I give thanks for the gift of physical sight.

In addition, there is mental sight. Do you recall a mathematical equation that you did not understand? When someone explained it to you, you said, "I see."

Of course, physical and mental sight are marvelous, but an even greater gift is the gift of seeing with our hearts. In the Bible, the word "heart" includes comprehension, discernment, wisdom, insight, vision and perception. Our "heart eyes" are given us to see what God sees.

In his book, "Congratulations, God Believes in You!", Lloyd Ogilvie tells of a woman who said to him: "How I wish that my husband could see the real me. He looks right past me." I couldn't help wondering how universal that cry is - and not just from wives.

Perhaps the greatest gift of sight is the ability to envision. This is the kind of vision that led a small boy named Abraham Lincoln from a log cabin in Illinois to the presidency of a great nation. Imagine what can happen if we can envision what God envisions for us, our homes, our churches, our world, then set out to make those dreams a reality. Let's try it.

Contact Nell Mohney at nellwhohney@comcast.net.

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