Color Blindness

 This was first written for a C.E. earlier this year. For the record, I don't personally know anyone who has tried out Enchroma glasses, and I understand the results vary. My interest in color blindness stems from the reality of a very dear family member that has this condition. As the turbulent year of 2020 comes to a close, it seems the approaching new year calls for a renewal of vision and courage.

    One in every twelve men and one in every two hundred women is affected by color blindness. There are different degrees of the issue, with some having only slight problems with a certain color, to being completely color blind, where most objects just seem to be a varying shade of the same dull color. In 2010, the company Enchroma introduced, for the first time, glasses to help the color blind see color. Their reactions were incredible.
    “So that’s purple?”
    “Wait. That’s red? I think that’s my new favorite color!”
    “You have this crazy blue lining around your eye.”
    “You mean you see all this all the time?”
    “But I never knew…”
  For many, the experience of putting on a pair of Enchroma glasses was akin to being born. They gazed about, open-mouthed, at the world around them. They felt, with child-like wonder, the grass, the leaves, the petals of the flowers. There were tears of wonder, of joy, of being overwhelmed and thankful for this chance to finally see things as the rest of the world saw them.
    We live in a color blind world. A world that is dull to the glories of God and his creation. A world that doesn’t recognize the gifts He showers on us every day. A world that does not understand the beauty of His love.
    As Christians, we are handed the glasses of God’s grace and mercy. We see with new clarity the joys of taking the path of self-denial He leads us down. We are amazed at the depth of His love evident on Calvary, and His might and power as witnessed by the empty tomb.
    Although we share with the world around us similar experiences, how we see things is completely different. When others fear, we can feel security in God. When they cry out as all the familiar things in life crash into a jumbled heap at their feet, we can see that God’s hand is in it all. While some wonder if there can even be a meaning to life, we stand open-mouthed, worshipping God, incredulous at the power of a resurrected Christ.
    Some may scoff at the glasses and call them an illusion. After all, if they are taken off, one’s eyesight returns to what it was before. They are not a cure for being color blind. But here’s the beauty of it: If we will wear those glasses, if we will continue to walk in the grace and mercy of God, there will come a day, the Bible promises, when we will see a new heaven and a new earth. Someday, we will cast aside the cares of this life. We will no longer be cumbered with glasses, and we will have vision that is completely and perfectly healed. Just as Jesus did not make a partial recovery from death, we will not make a partial recovery from sin. We will become heirs together in Heaven, cured completely from the besetting sins and pride that plague us here in this world.
    Today take a moment to look at the world around you. Realize that you are experiencing a beauty unique to a Christian, who views all through the grace of God, and rejoice in it. Little are we able to understand how much we really have to be thankful for.