foreground

Lately, my eyes have been doing this annoying thing where they want to fixate on what’s in the foreground instead of the whole picture.

For example, if there is a water bottle on the coffee table in front of me and I’m watching a movie on the TV across the room, the water bottle looms large and distracts me from being able to watch the movie. I literally have to move the water bottle to be able to watch the movie in peace! Or while driving, I’ll turn to check my blind spot and feel like I can’t see past the seatbelt anchored to the inside of my car.

It’s almost like everything past what’s right in front of me swirls into a blur that I cannot focus on. And before you think there’s a problem with my eyes, I can literally see just fine. It’s just a matter of where my eyes fixate.

I’ve always been able to see quite far and take in a wide periphery. I like taking in everything. Wherever I go, I am taking in the environment, reading the room, getting a sense of what’s around me … and not even necessarily intentionally, just intuitively.

But maybe, just maybe, there are times when we’re trying to take in too much. Times when we just need to pause take care of what’s right in front of us. And not try to take it all in. Because the “all” that is available to us, just might be too much for us at times.

And on the other hand, there are times when what is right in front of me is consuming in a dangerous way that puts me at risk, unable to take in the greater context that matters most. I don’t need to be focusing on the interior of my car when I’m checking for vehicles in my blind spot.

So today, may we have eyes to see what’s right in front of us while also placing in the greater context. May we not lose one for the other. And may we have grace and mercy for those who are focusing on one or the other.