Pastor Ralph J. Mineo, St. Luke's Lutheran Church

I've worn corrective lenses (glasses, eyeglass, spectacles) for many years now, since high school actually. And the power of those glasses has changed many times, including bifocals over a decade ago.

That's the way it is with our eyes. Corrections can be made to see the things of daily life better. We can also look into a microscope to see things we would never be able to see otherwise. We can look into a telescope to see things that are otherwise too far away to see.

Christian tradition has long referred to the "Eye of the Soul." Jesus Christ came into this world "that we might see." Certainly he cured physical blindness, but he wanted us to see with the soul. He wanted to cure our spiritual blindness.

Life takes on new meaning when we see our world through the eye of the soul. When we reflect on God-Within-Our-Soul, we look at our world through this eye.

The eye of the soul needs "correction" from time to time. We need to turn from our sin. We need to repent. We sometimes need to completely change direction. We need to treat so-and-so a bit better, we need more compassion, we need more understanding, we need more kindness. We need a correction from stubborn selfishness. We need to worship God. We need to read the bible.

I think there's also a microscope for the eye of the soul, which reminds us that the "little things" in life are very important: cooking a meal, dusting the house, sending a card, making a phone call, listening to someone's problem when you're in a hurry to be someplace else, a caring gift, and on and on. Such individual moments of caring are essential to see with the eye of the soul.

There's also a telescope for the eye of the soul, to see beyond the daily grind, to see our lives in light of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. We look with the telescope of the soul back 2000 years to see what Christ has done for us. We look to the future. What lies in the soul's future is far more important than the change of a calendar date. What lies ahead is OUR OWN death and resurrection, whenever that might be. A follower of Christ will look at that event and live in light of what the soul sees: NEW LIFE!

Let us pray that God's Spirit in Christ will cure spiritual blindness!