It's all about the glasses.

I'm prone to losing my glasses. I need them to see things at a distance, but can’t read anything when they’re on. As a result, I'm constantly putting them on, taking them off, and losing them . . . often. At present, I have an abundance of found-glasses, and, looking at two pairs sitting on the table, I realize I have this week’s blog.

Spiritually, I always have two sets of glasses sitting before me. To over-simplify the prescription of each, one is a spiritually centered pair, the other secular. With one, I see the world as connected and meaningful, the other as disjointed and random.

The question is not whether I will wear glasses, it’s a question of which pair I’ll wear. If I'm in a rush out the door, distracted by what I have to do, I will reach for whichever pair is closest. If I am overwhelmed by the pressures of life, I will likely reach for the pair that will simply get me through the day. If I'm more centered and purposeful, I'll wear the pair that helps me see the world in a similar way.

Depending on my glasses choice, I can walk into a morning AA meeting and celebrate being in a room of courageous people who are traveling together into new life, or I can sit in the room and judge the people by what they say or how they look. I can drive to work thankful to be one of the people who have a job, a job that is truly meaningful, or I can resent the morning traffic and compare my paycheck to others. I can celebrate my four wonderful children, or see ways they could improve, or (even worse) somehow try to correct my past mistakes or regrets through their lives. It’s all about the pair of glasses I choose to wear.

When I wear the wrong glasses, I end up tired, dizzy, and full of headaches. Bemoaning the way I feel, I now know it’s usually because I have been wearing the wrong glasses. Slowly, but intentionally, I am refocusing my efforts in the morning and throughout the day, to make sure I am wearing the right glasses. Through prayer and meditation, taking a moment to breath, I can choose the right prescription.

I once heard a story of three men being asked about their identical work. The first said: “I toil from sun up to sun down, breaking my back for meager pay.” The second replied: “Yes, I work all day, but I am providing for my family.” The third joyfully said: “I’m building Chartres Cathedral.”

It’s all about the glasses.