Elul 25 :: Not So 20-20

Recently, my husband had cataract surgery in his left eye. At the same time, a stint was inserted to help relieve pressure from recently diagnosed glaucoma. That he would be having these issues was hardly a surprise to us, as this is the same eye that suffered major trauma over 30 years ago when a 16d nail ricocheted off a stud and implanted into his eye. It was a miracle that he did not lose his eye or his eyesight, but we were forewarned that he would likely develop cataracts later in life.

Later in life has arrived, and they didn't lie. Unfortunately, even with surgery, the eyesight will probably never be much better. The up side is, he still has one eye with no vision problems, so life goes on.

Thankfully, we do not have to depend on our physical eyes for spiritual insight and understanding... or to see ourselves and others as YHVH sees us. Even better news than that is the knowledge that YHVH's eyes are on us at all times.

Indeed, according to today's Elul devotional with The Rabbi's Son,
     His ear is tuned in to hear your every heartbeat... He knows your thoughts before you think them... He knows your life better than you do.
     You may have quit looking in His direction, but He has not responded in kind.

And, you know what specifically is nice about this? He see us, He knows us, and when we cry out to Him, he does not dredge up all of our faults and sordid details of our past. Instead, He looks at our potential and our promise, and He believes in us.

Today's challenge is to see ourselves and others as YHVH sees us - our sins are not an obstacle to His love, but easily remedied by our "repentance and returning." And, with that revelation:
     "quit being repulsed by and overreacting to other people’s sin, and instead lovingly help them deal first with the main problem -- their estrangement from [YHVH]."