X-rays allow us to see below the surface, outlining bones where we would ordinarily see only skin. While we can’t manage such feats with our eyes, we are gifted with a different kind of vision that allows us to see beneath surfaces, to pick up feelings that don’t match with people’s words, or to find significance in the everyday objects and events around us.
How have you recently used your ability to see through surfaces to something deeper below?
What could be lovelier, more perfect, than a view through the trees to a white, sandy tropical beach? Of course, once you were on the beach you would face the danger of sunburn, and perhaps poisonous jellyfish lurk in the clear water. But for a moment, in a glimpse through the trees, it’s possible to see only the vision of loveliness, shining there like a perfect gem.
Who or what will you allow yourself to see as a vision of loveliness, setting aside all flaws for a moment for a glimpse of shining perfection?
This telescope requires the viewer to put in quarters in order to get the eagle’s-eye view of their surroundings. But there are other forms of seeing clearly that are also not without cost. When issues such as racism, climate change or economic injustice come into focus for us, then we must face the price of figuring out how we will respond—or the price of knowing that we have seen injustice and done nothing.
What price have you been willing to pay to respond to the injustice that you’ve seen?
Do you remember the first time you looked into a microscope, how at first you saw only a blur, but then managed to twiddle the focus knob until all of a sudden something that was invisible before that moment sprung into focus and you could actually see microorganisms, or the cells of a plant, or the cells of your own skin?
When have you had the revelation of some part of your life suddenly springing into focus and making sense?
Out of all the stones on this beach, this particular set of nine rocks stands out, only because someone has taken the time to balance them into a tower, to arrange those particular stones as part of part of their personal vision.
What has become special to you because of the way you have made it connect with a vision?
