{"id":140,"date":"2011-04-26T14:24:10","date_gmt":"2011-04-26T18:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/choosingcomedy.wordpress.com\/?p=140"},"modified":"2011-04-26T14:24:10","modified_gmt":"2011-04-26T18:24:10","slug":"visual-acuity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/?p=140","title":{"rendered":"Visual Acuity"},"content":{"rendered":"

I always seem to have a song running through my mind.\u00a0 Right now it is Johnny Nash’s “I can see clearly now.”<\/p>\n

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
\nI can see all obstacles in my way
\nGone are the dark clouds that had me blind
\nIt\u2019s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
\nSun-Shiny day.<\/p>\n

While these are the lyrics in my brain, they are not the truth I am experiencing, either physically or metaphorically.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

No, I\u00a0 used\u00a0 <\/em>to see clearly.\u00a0 I used to have 20\/15 vision.\u00a0 Which I thought was quite good.\u00a0 Better, you know, than the standard 20\/20 we all hear about.\u00a0 Hindsight is 20\/20.\u00a0 And that news show is 20\/20.\u00a0 Yep, 20\/20, clear vision.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

As it turns out 20\/20 is sort of the lower limit of normal, the bare minimum, if you will.\u00a0 According to Wikipedia (I know, I know, but it’s right there!) “the average visual acuity of healthy eyes is 20\/16 to 20\/12”\u00a0 So what I thought was great vision turns out to have just been average.<\/p>\n

And I was so proud.\u00a0 I had 20\/15.\u00a0 Mere mortals had 20\/20, but I<\/em><\/strong> had 20\/15.<\/p>\n

Like this was something I accomplished myself. You too could have 20\/15 vision if you just…what?\u00a0 Tried harder?<\/p>\n

Well taking pride in something you had no hand in can backfire.\u00a0 Because I no longer have 20\/15 vision.\u00a0 I don’t know what the measurement is now, but I can tell you that I cannot read without my glasses, and I never had that problem before.\u00a0 I could read anything: near, far, small, large, computer, print, I could see it all.<\/p>\n

Now I can’t.\u00a0 So having taken pride in my vision I wonder…is it my fault?\u00a0 How did I blow the good vision thing?\u00a0 Should I not have started using glasses?\u00a0 Did that do it?<\/p>\n

No, the sad truth is that I can’t see clearly any more because of age.<\/p>\n

I am aging.\u00a0 Getting old.\u00a0 Body parts are breaking down.\u00a0 Hair greying, skin wrinkling, you get the picture.<\/p>\n

So I don’t see so well anymore.\u00a0 It is just a symptom.<\/p>\n

But the underlying cause may not be what you think.<\/p>\n

I don’t see clearly anymore because I am aging.\u00a0 But is aging the cause or another symptom? Is there something deeper?<\/p>\n

This is an important question.\u00a0 A proper diagnosis is vital to proper treatment.\u00a0 For an accurate treatement we must discern if something is a symptom or the underlying cause.<\/p>\n

It does no good to simply stop a symptom; say, pain.\u00a0 No one wants to be in pain, but if we don’t get at the root cause, if we just take a pill to make the pain stop, we miss the whole disease or injury.\u00a0 And the pain will come back, maybe with other symptoms, because the problem still exists.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite examples of proper diagnosis is an incident related in the gospel of Mark chapter 2.\u00a0 Jesus is teaching in a house.\u00a0 People hear this and come from great distances to hear him.\u00a0 One group comes to do more than listen.\u00a0 Four friends are carrying a fifth friend to the house where Jesus is because their friend is paralyzed.\u00a0 They want Jesus to heal him.\u00a0 They want their friend to walk.<\/p>\n

They get to the house, but can’t even get near the door, the crowd is too big.\u00a0 In a true sitcom move, these determined friends get on the roof and dig a hole in the roof and lower their paralyzed friend into the house through the hole in the roof.<\/em><\/p>\n

Can you imagine?\u00a0 What was this guy feeling?\u00a0 He, being paralyzed, had no control over what they were doing.\u00a0 Was he glad?\u00a0 Embarrassed?\u00a0 Desperate to walk?<\/p>\n

What kind of mess<\/em> did this make?\u00a0 What was the homeowner thinking?\u00a0 Good thing the crowd was large, he probably couldn’t get to the dudes on the roof.<\/p>\n

The four friends were likely feeling pretty good.\u00a0 Mission accomplished!\u00a0 They carried their friend, overcame the crowd and managed to lower him into the house right in front of Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n

Score!<\/p>\n

Then, perhaps, they were peering in, waiting for the miracle, waiting to see the victory: their friend walking!<\/p>\n

Jesus looks at the man and says, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”<\/p>\n

Allright! … wait, what?!\u00a0 What did he say?\u00a0 Sins?\u00a0 What sins?\u00a0 Hey Jesus, we carried him here so you could make his legs work man!<\/p>\n

They weren’t the only ones confused by Jesus’ statement.\u00a0 Some guys who spent their lives studying about God were a little bent out of shape by this statement.\u00a0 See, they knew only God could forgive sin.\u00a0 So…what?\u00a0 What was this guy Jesus claiming?\u00a0 Was he claiming to be<\/em><\/strong> God?<\/p>\n

Jesus knew what they were thinking.\u00a0 And he addressed the God-guys, “Why are you thinking this?\u00a0 What is easier?\u00a0 To say ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say ‘Get up and walk.’\u00a0 I want you to understand, I have authority to forgive sins.”<\/p>\n

So Jesus looks at the paralytic and says, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”<\/p>\n

And he does.<\/p>\n

What a great scene from God’s sitcom!\u00a0 We had adversity, conflict, struggle, humor and a surprise ending!<\/p>\n

Jesus, the great physician, makes a proper diagnosis:\u00a0 paralysis is a symptom<\/em>. The cause?\u00a0 A broken world, ruined by sin.\u00a0 Original sin, my sin, your sin.\u00a0 Everything is busted.\u00a0 This is not how the world was created, this is a damaged version.<\/p>\n

Jesus came to make it right.<\/p>\n

The four friends just wanted their buddy to be able to walk.\u00a0 Jesus wanted him to be whole, be who he was meant to be, be reconciled to his creator.\u00a0 Jesus took out the underlying disease.<\/p>\n

And, in case there was any doubt, he made the symptom go away too.\u00a0 A little visual aid.<\/p>\n

Something to help us see clearly.<\/p>\n

I still exhibit symptoms of the brokenness of this world.\u00a0 I need my glasses to write this.\u00a0 My body is going to continue to break down till one day it gives out.<\/p>\n

But<\/em><\/strong>…and this is a big but…the underlying cause of my aging eyes has been dealt with.<\/p>\n

My sins are forgiven.\u00a0 Just like the dude with the four really good friends.\u00a0 Forgiveness was granted by Jesus.\u00a0 He had the authority to do it.\u00a0 It was a debt I owed.\u00a0 He paid it in full.<\/p>\n

That’s what Easter is all about, Charlie Brown.<\/p>\n

I may not see clearly anymore, but living in forgiveness,\u00a0 I am looking good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I always seem to have a song running through my mind.\u00a0 Right now it is Johnny Nash’s “I can see clearly now.” I can see clearly now, the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind It\u2019s gonna be a bright (bright), bright […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2O0qX-2g","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}