I remember several years ago when my son Nicholas and I went to Dr. Dave Betts’ office to pick up his first pair of glasses.   He was fifteen years old.  When he put them on, Nicholas screamed:  “Dad, I can’t believe everything is so clear!  The leaves on the trees are clear!   I can even see little hair on your nose!  Everything used to be blurry but now is crystal clear! ” 
 
Those of us who have less than 20/20 vision can relate to the gift of eye -glasses that help restore our blurry vision.  Just as Dr. Betts helps us see with our physical eyes, our church invites us to clean up our vision so we can see the detail and truth about life in its purity.   I recently read a short story that illustrates this idea.  
 
“A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside. "That laundry is not very clean", she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap"
 
Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments. About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: "Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?"
 
The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows." And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the lens or window through which we look. “
 
In a similar fashion, how we see the world and respond depends greatly upon the purity of our hearts and minds.  As we celebrate the great feast of Holy Theophany, Jesus Christ’s baptism in the Jordan by St. John, He invites each of us to wash the windows of the eyes of our soul so we can see clearly. 
 
Through baptism and the grace of the Holy Spirit, we are cleansed and sanctified.  We are made clean!  We are given the chance to see clearly.  We must also see the struggle against sin is a battle that requires repentance and forgiveness.  This too, is administered through the sacrament of Holy Confession. 
 
We see with 20/20 vision when we notice as one of the prayers at Baptism states: that by God’s Grace, He brought all things into being out of nothingness, and in His might He sustains creation, and in His providence governs the universe.  He shaped creation out of four elements.  He crowned the cycle of the year with four seasons.  All intelligent life trembles before Him.  The Sun praises Him.  The moon sings His glory.  The stars come together around Him.
 
We see with 20/20 vision when we believe that He is our God without beginning beyond describing or expressing.  That He came to earth, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of the human person.  For in the tenderness of His mercy, He could not endure to see humankind under the devil’s sway, but came and saved us.
 
We see with 20/20 vision when we are able to simply contemplate this amazing mystery that God took on our flesh, yours and mine so He could restore it to its original beauty.   God came to be with us so He can be in relationship with us guiding us to walk in the light.  Directing our path to righteousness.  Sustaining us with His word, with His Body and Blood. 
                                                                                                
Our vision is clear when we believe that God shaped the human person in His own image and likeness, enabling each person to know eternal life.  Do you get this amazing truth?!  That our purpose in life is to walk with our Lord and seek His Kingdom glorifying Him with our actions, with our thoughts, and with our words!!
 
You see that because of this amazing miracle of our Lord’s baptism, he has opened paradise to everyone.  He invites you and me to put on this new nature since we are created to be like God, truly righteous and Holy in Christ.
 
In this way our bodies, mere flesh and bones and blood, can become containers of Christ. Our souls activated, we can become lamps of the Holy Spirit; the eyes of our souls, the doors of perception, become seeing, and we see the whole of God's Creation as it really is. We see that every blade of grass and every hill, every tree and every cloud, every drop of rain and every ocean, all creatures and all people, are miracles of God's handiwork!!!”
 
May we find a way to have clear vision realizing the sacredness of life and lead a life worthy of our calling becoming humble and gentle, being united in the spirit binding ourselves together in peace centering our life in Christ.
 
May 2009 be a year of many blessings for all to see and experience!
 
+fr. tom