Cross Eyed

As they were sitting in a local restaurant, Lisa was telling some of the girls that she is doing a Bible study with about the importance of getting off of the fence. “Don’t live with one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God. It’s not healthy to compromise,” was the basic message.

As they were eating, one of the girls looked at Lisa and said, “Are you feeling alright?” She felt fine, but the girls persisted. “There’s something not right about your eye. It looks like a cross or something!”

She looked in a mirror. The girls took a picture with, what else, an iPhone. (or something close to that) There it was. A cross was right there in her pupil. It was not in both eyes - just one!? If it was merely a reflection it should have been in both. What was going on?

I showed the picture to an eye doctor the other day and he said there are no known maladies that could reasonably cause this, especially for just a few moments. Her eye stayed that way for only a few minutes and was then normal again. Normal? Lisa? Hmm? This is apparently no ordinary person we’re dealing with here!

Last week she asked my wife what she thought about it, expecting some deep spiritual insight. Lonie simply stated the facts. “You’re cross-eyed!” No help here either.

It’s said that the eye is the lamp of the soul. If you look Lisa in the eye today you might make her self conscious. Well, maybe not her. But she may very well remind you to keep your eyes on the cross. Isn’t that what God is saying?

I suppose it’s possible that it was only a reflection of the lights in the room, even though it was only one eye, and only lasted for a short time. But when’s the last time you were sitting somewhere and someone saw something so profound in your eye that they stopped the conversation?

No matter what the cause of this “sign,” the timing can’t be explained away by science any more than can the parting of the Red Sea. It’s what is happening at the moment that makes it miraculous.

Personally, I was immediately reminded of Paul’s teaching that we are crucified to the world and the world to us. Look at the world through the cross. When you wonder why God allows suffering in the world, look at the cross. When you wonder if God loves you, keep your eyes firmly fixed on the cross. When you don’t like how you are treated, see the cross.

Someone said it this way once, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.” You may feel like you’re being crucified, but there’s a resurrection coming. God intends to turn sorrow into joy, trials into triumphs. He didn’t say He would bring joy along side of the sorrows. He’s working to change the very sorrow itself into joy. Hang on! Look at life through the cross.

* Photo submitted by Terry Hartikka