If you’ve ever taken a close look at my eyeglasses you’ll realize that I infrequently clean my lenses, even if they are spotted with rain stains. Unfortunately, I have a bad habit of not noticing when my lenses are clouded until I take them off, clean them, and see the difference in clarity after they’ve been cleaned. Gradually dirt builds up again and water spots appear. My vision becomes foggy, shrouded by a layer of grime and yuckiness. These last couple of days, I’ve allowed my spiritual lenses to become foggy with negativity and ill-thoughts.
I’ve heard it said “tears wash the windows of our souls.” Now more than ever, I need G-d to wash my windows and give me His eyes. G-d is El-Roi the “G-d who sees.” He sees my joy, my laughter, my sorrow, my grief, my frustration, and my confusion. He sees me in complete vulnerability, complete brokeness, without pretention or appearances and still He loves me unconditionally. If a perfect G-d loves me, an imperfect person, how much more should I, a broken person, love my brother or sister? If a perfect G-d forgives me, an imperfect person, how much more should I, a broken person, forgive my brother or sister? If a perfect G-d gives grace to me, how much more should I also give grace?
Transitions lenses help many people see clearer by quickly adjusting to the changing light. A spiritual parallel to transitions lenses may look something like grace. Dad always sees us clearly, perfectly exposed, vulnerable, and genuinely. Isn’t it amazing how Dad sees us with transition lenses which reveal the blemishes and imperfections and covers them with incredible amounts of grace and mercy? It’s as if His transitions lenses also have a rose colored tint to them that say “covered by the blood of J.C.” As His children, heirs of His promised inheritance, we too have been given a set of these transition lenses, the H.S. Through my identity as a daughter of the King, I am empowered to love and forgive as He did, to see people through transitions lenses, the clearest, most raw and real, and to demonstrate a small measure of the grace and mercy given to me by Dad.
This was brought home to me tonight through a divine encounter with a Jewish grandmother, who gave us grace despite being wronged. When we arrived in our host home in Jerusalem on Tuesday, we realized that there was no cooking gas for us to use. So, our boys went outside and noticed two gas tanks hooked up to gas lines leading into the upstairs flat and an empty space for two other gas tanks. Our host suggested that his neighbors may have switched the gas lines to reroute the gas to their own flat. He instructed the boys to switch the gas lines and route the gas back into our flat. The next day, we discovered that there was no gas again. Our boys looked outside again and discovered this time our gas lines had been intentionally broken and the gas lined piped back to the upstairs flat. Despite her being wronged and without cooking gas for a day, our upstairs Jewish grandmother neighbor graciously offered her own stove and oven for us to cook until gas was restored to our flat. Not only did she forgive us and forget the wrong done to her, she also extended her hospitality and opened her doors for us to go have coffee with her whenever we want. Grace despite offense.
