Was Blind but Now I See

"This I know. I was blind but now I see." (John 9)

During our week in Honduras we distributed almost 400 pairs of prescription eyeglasses and about as many reading glasses. It was an amazing experience to watch people's faces light up when they could suddenly see the world clearly for the first time. Unfortunately, I did not take as many pictures of our patients as I might have liked. The line was always so long that I wanted to move quickly from one person to the next. In 4 days I personally fit over 100 people with eyeglasses (and, let me tell you, my ability to explain in Spanish how to use bifocals is second to none!).

There are a couple of patients whose stories jump out at me. One was a woman who had the misfortune of being the last in line before the lunch break on our first day. I was the only one left in the clinic because everyone else had gone to hear the children sing at the lunch program. I could hear the voices of the kids from across the grounds of Cosecha and was cranky that I was missing it. But, there was this one woman left in line and I didn't want to make her wait 2 hours until we got back from our break. I tried fitting her with a few different pairs of bifocals, but she didn't seem to respond to any of them. A few adjustments were made and I went back for another pair of glasses. I returned to her, tired and kind of bored and sad I wasn't with the kids. But when the woman put this new pair of glasses on her face lit up and she exclaimed, "Everything is so clear! You're beautiful! It's a miracle!" And it was -- that moment was my high for the day.

On the last day a mother came in with her two sons, ages 6 and 4. These boys had some of the worst vision we saw all week. The 6 year old had a +6 prescription (most of what we were seeing wasn't much higher than a +2 or +4). His brother's eyes were almost as bad. When they came in they were both squinting so badly that their eyes were hardly visible. When I saw them my heart sank -- I wondered how, with the few pairs of kids' glasses we had, we would ever be able to help these boys. Evan, my trusty assistant, brought me 2 pairs of kids' glasses and told me they were the strongest we had. Lo and behold, one of them had a prescription of +5.5. The older boy put them on and I watched as slowly his eyes began to open wider and wider and a smile crept across his face. I had him tell me how many fingers I was hold up and when he could still see my hand from across the room he and his mother beamed at each other. We also found a pair of glasses that were just what his younger brother needed.

I couldn't help but think of what a difference this pair of glasses would make in those brothers' lives. The six year old was just starting school and now he would be able to see the board and be able to see the page in order to learn to read. Boy were his friends going to be surprised the first time he went out on the soccer field and kicked the ball right into the goal!

I think of the man born blind in John who said, after Jesus healed him, "I do not know if he is a prophet. This I do know; I once was blind, but now I see."