Blurry View

As a mom raising my young sons, I took my job seriously. When they were outside playing, I kept an ear and an eye out for their safety. When they had a runny nose, cough, or fever, I made sure to give them the care they needed to get well.  

Consequently, when I noticed that one of my second born son’s eyes occasionally crossed, I grew concerned. I knew that kids could cross their eyes to make a funny face. But did a two-year old have the ability to cross just one eye?

 I made an appointment with an ophthalmologist who after examining our little boy, explained to me in a very kind and gentle manner that, no, our son was not purposely crossing one eye. Instead, the doctor explained, our little man had a condition called amblyopia.

Amblyopia is a condition that develops in children during their developmental years. One eye is dominant while the other eye is recessive. The dominant eye grows stronger as the recessive eye gets weaker. The result is that one eye has very good vision, while the other eye sees only a blurred view. 

The ophthalmologist suggested a simple and inexpensive treatment. We’d cover the dominant eye with an eye patch for a few hours each day hoping that our little boy’s brain would begin training the weaker eye to start working. But, after some months of trying to retrain our son’s brain, the weaker eye remained, the weaker eye. 

Trusting the ophthalmologist we agreed to the next step; surgery. Trying to assuage my fear, the physician said it would be a simple procedure. But to this mom, there is no such thing as a simple procedure when it involved one of my sons.

Nonetheless, our little boy came through just fine and after a few weeks of recovery, his recessive eye was no longer a recessive eye. Now, both of his eyes were just as strong as the other. 

Viewing Others Through A Lens of Forgiveness

Years ago, unforgiveness along with the grudges, blame and anger that I held against those whom I thought owed me something better than what they’d given me, was a little bit like having amblyopia. My eyes and brain did not work in harmony. Instead of seeing my offenders clearly, my view was veiled, opaque and unclear. 

Our long held grudges have a way of growing more and more prominent, weakening our ability to notice any redeeming qualities in our offender. Accusations against the one who harmed us multiply so much so that we only see the dark side of someone.  Finally, the anger we hold against the one who hurt us does not remain focused on just that one person. Instead, anger infiltrates our whole landscape. 

Why Bother?

Why bother with a new view? Forgiveness is like a simple procedure that corrects our blurred vision of our offender. Once we forgive, our vision is altered and we see them differently.

You can read the whole story of my journey to forgiveness in my book, A Heart’s Journey To Forgiveness found at Redemption Press and Amazon. Also, stay tuned for details on my next Emotional Healing Through Forgiveness© workshop slated for Sunday, April 26 from 4-7 p.m at the YMCA in Sandpoint, Idaho.