Seeing Through a Lens

    This week we have celebrated Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Bonsack UMC.  Over 100 children and youth and more than 40 adult workers have been a part of the annual tradition of sharing Christ’s love together.  I say together, because even though VBS is marketed as something for the kids, in reality it is something that blesses all involved. 
    This year I was invited to be photographer for part of the week.  In three days I’ve taken almost 700 pictures, and as I have, I’ve found myself seeing VBS from a different perspective.
So often folks come to church in a posture of receiving, or we come anticipating and/or looking for something with which we can walk away, however, as photographer, I’ve experienced the exact opposite.
    Instead of experiencing the environment as something that I take in, mull over, and from which I take away nuggets of grace, I have found myself seeking to capture the moments when God has touched the lives of those in the environment.  Instead of focusing on where God is touching my life, I have looked for the joy in

the eyes of the child and seen it.  I have sought out the fun of playing games and seen that fun draws us together in fellowship.  I have viewed the faces of adults and children alike hearing the stories of faith and capturing the marvel of such grace.  I have seen God in a different way because I have been looking at others and seeing the environment through a different lens.

    I have worn glasses for 15 years now and contacts for almost as long, and I remember when I first had to

have aid for sight, it took a little getting used to.  After all, I was used to seeing with my own eyes.  I didn’t like having my work framed by glasses, and often I would find myself taking my glasses off, thinking that I could see better without them, only to realize quickly that it only made things worse.  I needed to look at life through lenses in order for all to come into focus.
    As I’ve been taking pictures for VBS, I have been reminded of this truth.  I have remembered how often we come into an environment, whether home, work, church, or school, and we see what we know. We come with expectations and anticipations...and lenses..., all of which can distort reality.  All of which can actually put things out of our focus on God, rather than focus us on God.
    Behind the lens I am looking at the world and seeking to find Joy and Hope.  I am looking up on God’s children with anticipation of God shining through them, then I am trying to capture the moment so that Joy can become a witness to others...a reminder if you will, of the reality of life – that through the eyes of God, it’s not about us and that God surrounds and blesses us each moment.

    Mark recalls a healing story in his Gospel (Mark 8: 22-25), where a blind man begged Jesus to touch him.  Jesus led him outside the village, spit on the man’s eyes, then touched him.  Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”  The man replied, “I see people, but they look like trees walking around.”  Jesus touched the man’s eyes again, and when He did, the man saw everything clearly.
    There are many levels to this story and many interpretations, and that’s part of the reason I’ve always loved it.  But what has the most impact on me here is that Jesus gives this man new lenses through which to see the world.  At first there is still some blurring, but with another touch from Jesus the man can see everything clearly.
    Seems to me that that’s a lot how we are.  So often we are blind to the world or blinded by the world, and so we beg Jesus to touch us.  When he does, he gives us a different perspective, new sight, a new lens, if you will, and at first it’s a bit blurry.  It doesn’t make much sense because it goes against the grain of society and what we are used to.  And yet, when Jesus touches us again...and again and again...things begin to come more and more clear.  We begin to see the world, our environment, and others through the lens of Christ.

    As I reflect upon the purpose and goal of VBS, I think the same process happens.  We share stories together which give all of God’s children a different perspective.  They align us with God and God’s purposes, and they implant the lens of faith in our lives, so that children, youth, and adults alike, can see the world, our environment, and others through the lens of Christ.
   

When you look around...when you look in the mirror...what do you see?  Through whose eyes are you looking?  Are you willing to see those things that Christ sees, which we are so contentedly blind to?