Sweet spot

"Don't be surprised if it takes you a while to find the sweet spot," the optical tech said as she adjusted the earpieces on my new bifocals. "It's a bit different for everyone, but once you find it, your vision will improve dramatically."

Correcting blurry vision is a relatively simple thing. After the initial eye exam, a few additional measurements and the endless decisions about type of lens, scratch coating, edge polishing, antiglare materials and shape/color of frames, the tech puts in the order and the glasses are manufactured.

With the proper correction in each section of the lens, the tiniest footnote is perfectly legible, while the farthest highway sign is no longer a mystery.

A sweet spot exists in our spiritual vision as well as our physical sight. Clarity of spiritual vision is optimal only when we are walking with no unconfessed sin in our lives. The daily reading from May 14th included Psalm 32, which begins:

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Psalm 32:1 - 2

David says that the man in whom the Lord finds no iniquity is blessed. But what if the man is hiding iniquity in his heart? David goes on to relate his own experience:

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
Psalm 32:3-4

But he also knows the prescription that will correct his condition:

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Psalms 32:5

Day by day, moment by moment we need to be giving ourselves an "I" exam. Am I walking in the truth? Do my heart attitudes reflect the character of Christ? Am I willfully disobeying a direct command? Am I ignoring the good I ought to do?

It's not quite as painless as a eye exam, it needs to be performed more frequently and the corrections are oftentimes not made so easily, but for clarity of vision, it's vital.