Spiritual Glaucoma

"No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays." (Luke 11:33-36 NASB)

We are currently taking a detour through a few diseases of the eye to better understand the importance of clear spiritual vision. Yesterday, we looked at AMD or spiritual Age-Related Macular Degeneration. You can read that post here. 

Today, we are looking at glaucoma, in which an increase of pressure in the eye causes pressure on the optic nerve at the back of the eye. The front part of the eye contains a clear fluid that normally drains through the open angle, a spongy network where the cornea and iris meet. When the drainage is slowed, the fluid builds up. The extra fluid remaining in the eye causes an increase in pressure that "pinches" the optic nerve. With time, the pressure damages the nerve (connecting the eye with the brain) and causes loss of vision. 

The photo above is an example of the vision loss of glaucoma, in which peripheral vision is lost first, creating a kind of "tunnel vision". The vision loss gradually crowds in until all vision is gone.

The increased pressure can be detected early and treatment begun before vision loss occurs, but it requires an eye exam to detect it and medication (and sometimes surgery) to treat it. 

In that same way, we have a "pressure problem" that can affect our spiritual vision, too. I can write with authority on this subject because it has been a problem for me so often. When our lives are filled with "busyness" and stress, they create a kind of pressure that pinches at our hearts and narrows our relationship with our heavenly Father. Stress creates a kind of tunnel vision of its own, in which all we see is the problem or situation causing our stress. We completely miss all that God is doing in the periphery of our lives. How often this has been the case in my life! 

Dr. Richard Swenson talks about Margin (and has written a best-selling book on the issue). He describes "margin" as the unscheduled places in our lives, the places where God has room to work. When we fill our lives so completely that there is no margin, we not only increase our stress, we decrease the room for God to work in our lives. 

That loss of margin so common in American culture today is a perfect example of "spiritual glaucoma". It demands diagnosis and treatment. Let's take a close look at our own lives. Do we have spiritual glaucoma? 

The first step is diagnosis, but treatment must quickly follow. There is only one remedy, a heart examination, followed by intervention to decrease the pressure. There is no way to keep the stress and exclude all margin while simultaneously decreasing the pressure they cause. What is the remedy?

Some years ago, I was considering a position of leadership with an organization about which I deeply cared. The man who spoke with me explained that it would take quite a bit of time. "Your "plate" is too full. There's not room for this, too," he cautioned. In the end, I did accept the position but it required that I take my "plateful of busyness" to the cross and relinquish it. The thing that still amazes me is that those activities I most loved and that gave me the greatest joy were allowed to remain. It was the things that "sucked the life out of me" that needed to go. Making the change was, in the end, immensely satisfying, because it restored margin and improved my spiritual vision.

What about our lives today? Are we so busy that we have developed tunnel vision, seeing only those tasks that must be done? When we lose our margin because of schedule overload, we also limit our relationship with God and our spiritual vision. We miss what God is doing around us because we are so focused on what we must accomplish to survive our busyness. 

Today, let's evaluate our lives for the spiritual glaucoma of busyness and stress, then take action to reduce the pressure. Let's make sure we make time to spend with our Heavenly Father and focus on the things that please Him first. When we do, we will see the world and the people around us with clarity and can better respond with love.

"Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord. We want to see Jesus."

A visit at Martha' House, part 16: The good share

But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42 NASB)

Jesus has such lovely manners! He could have slammed Martha with condemnation for her manner of address, her irritation, her attitude toward her sister, but He did none of those. Instead, he talked about the good choice Mary had made, and did it without really mentioning Martha's specific choice. 

Mary, he said, had chosen the "good part", and that is the part I want to choose, as well. The word translated here as "good" is agathos and it is used to indicate good or useful. The word translated as "part" is meris and means "a part of the whole". Vine's describes the word as "a share, as of an inheritance". Putting the two words together, we find that agathos meris indicates the "best part" or the "best share of the inheritance". Thayer translates the two words together as a phrase meaning "the good part, which insures salvation to him who chooses it". Mary's choice gave her something very valuable, didn't it?

Of all the things the two women could have chosen that day, all the parts of the visit, Mary chose the one part that would give her salvation from the consequences of her sin and eternal life, as well. Mary's choice is even more appealing when we realize what Martha's choice netted for her. At the end of all her busyness, she probably had a clean house and a big meal, as well as an angry, frustrated heart and a very grumpy attitude, but no time spent with Jesus, no peace, no joy. This dichotomy of choice is true in my own life, as well. When I choose to spend time with Jesus, I find peace and joy in His presence, as well as direction for my day. When I choose the way of Martha, I find that same grumpy attitude that she found. Being busy makes the day go faster, and that sometimes seems like a good thing to me. Being busy and grumpy, however, is not. 

What I want to do, what I must do, is choose the path of Mary, who made time with her Lord the priority of her life, above all others, for I want what Mary gained. Dear ones, you, too, have a choice to make. Will you choose the path of Mary? Will you choose the path that leads to eternal life, to joy and peace? 

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NASB)

Hear the words of Jesus. The wide, broad gate looks easier and more sensible, He said, but it is the way of the world, and leads only to destruction. It is that narrow gate, the road less traveled, that Mary chose, and it is the one that, though narrow and more difficult, you and I must choose, as well, for it is the path that leads to eternal life.

{There is one more phrase in this section that is so beautiful I'm saving it for tomorrow, so be sure to check back.}

How to inherit eternal life, part 13: From Jerusalem to Jericho

Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. (Luke 10:30 NASB)

... So the people crossed opposite Jericho. (Joshua 3:16 NASB)

We are studying the passage from Luke in which Jesus paints a word picture of loving your neighbor as yourself. I have a little treat for you at the end, so be sure to read all the way through. (You can read about loving your neighbor as yourself and being a friend to sinners with these links in a separate tab and still keep this one open.) Today, we turn to the journey from Jerusalem to Jericho. 

Jericho is an interesting city and merits a closer look. Most people will remember the "battle" at Jericho in which the people walked around the city, day after day, as God prescribed, until the walls came down. The victory was, quite literally, won by their walk of obedience. What we often forget is that Jericho was the place where the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land. You may remember that they stood, after forty years of wandering, at the edge of the Jordan River. The water was rushing past and the walled city of Jericho was nearby on the other side. (BTW, this is the place where I was baptized and may have been the place where Jesus was baptized by John. Imagine that! Baptized in the place where Joshua and the children of Israel entered the promised land, where John the Baptizer ministered, and where our Lord Jesus was baptized as well. How incredible is that?) 

Jericho was a relatively large city, likely an affluent city (because of the walls), and well-populated. It was also filled with fear. They were terrified because of the vast numbers of the children of Israel who had just crossed the Jordan, and well they might have been, for their destruction was near. It would not, however, be the multitude of wanderers that would destroy them, but their God. 

Jericho is a beautiful city. It was known for its "aromatics" and had a wonderful fragrance. It is surrounded by desert, but because of the Jordan and the spring known as Elijah's Spring, it serves as a kind of oasis in the desert. Getting to Jericho was, however, difficult. The distance from Jerusalem to Jericho is roughly 18 miles. The journey is difficult, in part, because of the change in altitude between the two cities of more than 3000 feet, making at least a portion of the journey extremely steep. Because of the altitude difference, there is an accompanying change in the environment, becoming increasingly dry and arid as you approach Jericho. There are several excellent hiding places along the way and it was a popular place for robbers to hide. In fact, the robbers had been so successful in their crimes that it had become known as the "way of blood" because of the amount of blood shed in that place.

Some commentators suggest that, in this story, Jerusalem is symbolic of God's government and that Jericho symbolizes man's government. Others suggest that Jerusalem symbolizes paradise and Jericho, the world. Certainly, either of those are possible, but Jesus may have simply chosen this literal road for His parable because it was well known to His listeners and familiar as a dangerous path, albeit one that many of them would travel. The man traveling along the road may have simply been going about his business, living life as usual, when he was brutally attacked and left for dead. Those who passed him may have also been simply going about the business of life, hurrying through a dangerous and difficult path to get to an easier part of the journey as quickly as possible. That's the interpretation I favor.

You see, loving our neighbors isn't a scheduled event. We don't set an alert on our smart phone for "love your neighbor time". Jesus calls us to love our neighbor as we go about our day. While we are walking from one destination to the next (or driving, as the case may be), going about the business of life, we are to love our neighbor. The critical factor here is our ability to see our neighbor. Unless we are paying attention, looking around us, with the eyes and heart of Christ, we are not likely to see the need of our neighbor in distress. If we fail to recognize the need, we will never meet it. If we fail to see our neighbor, we will never love Him. 

There's another little problem that we often have, and you likely know it as well as I.  Busyness. When we allow our lives to be overtaken by "busy", we remove the margin that allows the adventure of God. We eliminate the opportunity to love our neighbor when we become too busy to "take the time" for the loving acts God places in our path.

God has not called us to be busy, but to be faithful. Let's begin today to ask God to develop in us the eyes of Christ, eyes that see the need around us, as well as the heart of Christ that responds to that need with ready assistance, willing to go to the distance until all that is needed is done. 
~~~~~~~~
Here's your treat! The day before his death, Martin Luther King spoke to striking sanitation workers about this very passage. It is insightful, wonderfully written, and well worth the read. You can click on the link below to read it. You don't want to miss it!
https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2012/04/why-didnt-they-stop-martin-luther-king-jr-on-the-parable-of-the-good-samaritan/

Hula-hooping Research

My little sister was just that.  Little.  She was so petite that I felt gigantic by comparison (being the more shapely sister), and in the early sixties she was awfully cute in her mini skirts. Cookie (my sister) could climb on the monkey bars, slide down hills on a cardboard box, and hula hoop. She could keep that hula hoop going for what seemed like forever.  I, however, could not.  It was not my thing.  I was the studious sister. That's what I said, but secretly, I wanted to hula hoop, too.

A few weeks ago, a friend showed me her weighted hula hoop.  Knowing my previous less than illustrious history with hooping, I was not optimistic.  The idea of exercising in the comfort of air conditioning while I watched reruns of McGuyver on Netflix was awfully appealing, though.  With one-click shopping, a weighted hoop of my own was on the way in no time.  The day the hoop arrived, I was glad I could try it out in the privacy of my home with no one to see.  I hate to say this, but I couldn't make a single round with that hoop. After longer than I am willing to confess, I finally made ten revolutions and I yelped out loud.  I was thrilled.

Here's the strange thing.  Nearly everyone who has visited lately has tried the hoop.  Oddly enough, the skinny girls can hula-hoop forever.  Round and round.  My sister, not quite so petite as she once was, could get a few rounds but nothing like when we were children. (I am only a little ashamed to say I was kinda glad.)

Today is Sister Saturday, the day every month when my sister and I hang out together. As you might expect, I have brought my hula hoop.  Today, we have been blessed that her daughter and two granddaughters have joined us, and we have had a girlie girl day. Fun!  My niece is excused from hula hooping because of recent surgery, but I have recruited everyone else to help with a little research. A little hula-hoop research.  You should see those girls go.  They can really hula hoop!

We have all taken turns and here are the results:
Brother-in-law Joe (not as slim as he once was) managed to hula hoop a total of 2.6 seconds.  He hoops like I do.  Poorly.
My little sister, former hula-hooper extraordinaire, hooped for 13.8 seconds.  She says it was not this hard when she was little!
I managed to make it 15.1 seconds.  Sad to say, but that was an improvement.  After all my practice, I am still not much of a hooper.  (In my defense, I had just eaten two bowls of gumbo.  In her defense, so had my sister.)
Nephew Ben managed 31.5 seconds.  He was fast as lightening with flashy style and could have gone longer if he had not been showing off.
Grandniece Lindsey is as tall and slim as a Vogue model at thirteen and she hooped 8 minutes and 22
seconds.  Non-stop.  She was having a grand time.  It was amazing!
Grandniece Gracee is as petite as her Nana was a few decades ago. She, of course, was determined to best her sister. She hula-hooped for 21 minutes and 33 seconds, smiling and chatting the entire time. She, too, had a great time.  It wasn't work, and it wasn't really exercise.  It was fun.  I was astounded!

Here is my interpretation of the data:  My frantic efforts to get the hoop in motion were counterproductive. The bigger my hip motion, the quicker the hoop fell.  The girls were able to hoop and hoop and hoop.  The motion of their hips was subtle but steady. They were relaxed and barely moving. Their style was nothing flashy, they just  made a good steady start and kept going, and they had a grand time doing it.

Relaxed, slow, and steady.  That's the way to go the distance in hula-hooping.

I was really startled by those results.  I tend to pack as much as possible into every day and, as a result, some days it feels like I'm moving at the speed of sound.  I get lots accomplished, and I really like the pace, but more than one time I've just burned out.  I hula-hoop just like I live my life, with all-out effort, working as hard as I possibly can.  I burn a few calories, but relaxed and steady? Nope. That's not my style. Fun? Who has time? After watching those little girls and that weighted hula-hoop, I'm wondering if maybe I should reconsider. Tonight, it looked like relaxed and steady is more
productive than I realized.  For sure, it was considerably more enjoyable!

Maybe you are running at the speed of sound, too.  Are you exhausted yet?  If not, you probably will be before long.  Why not take a lesson from the hooping-experts? Slow down, relax, keep moving steadily along.  You might just have a lot more fun!