Windows of the Soul

I am grateful for the marvel of eyesight. Thirty years ago, one of my eyes suffered a retinal detachment, and a doctor in Tucson, whose name I have regretfully forgotten, did such a finely crafted repair that the sight in that eye has been quite serviceable ever since.

In the last several weeks, I have had some further work done on my eyes that has again brought me new clarity of sight. So, my gratitude is extended to another skilled doctor and his team, who perform such a delicate and sight-enhancing art.

Sight is indeed a wonder, though it is often taken for granted. It enables us to experience the astonishing beauty and intricacy of all the details that surround us at every moment.

What magic there is in color! The blue of the jay, the soft cream of a rose, a bright pink blouse, the paint-daubed palette of an artist. And how intriguing that each subtle shading represents a different frequency of light vibration.

As one always so delighted by books and libraries, I find another gift of sight -- the cosy, always fascinating world of reading.

There can be a seeming dark side to seeing. Sight is perhaps the strongest of the five senses, and as such, very seductive. What we see can so easily entrap us into identifying ourselves with the limits of three dimensions. An old cliche notes that "Seeing is believing." And this is sadly true: If you believe the world is as it appears to be, and is the only reality, then you may be locked into a confined view and miss out on realizing the Grandeur, the changeless Real beyond all earthly sights and thoughts.

Sight, of course, has many aspects. Among them is the mystery of in-sight, the flash of knowing that requires no eyes or thinking. And there are the visionaries -- mystics, poets, and leaders who have been able to share to some extent their different visions of what is, or could be, or should be.

All in all, eyesight, vision, brings much to be grateful for as it allows us to navigate and enjoy this amazing world. I encourage you to consciously rediscover sight (and all the precious senses), to appreciate, to experiment and play with its wonders, to hold it in affection and love, so that you might come to see what else there is to "see."