I got new glasses a couple of weeks ago, and am I sure glad I did. Seems my old prescription wasn’t so good, and hadn’t been from the very beginning. I thought that fuzzy focus and blurred lines were just part of the aging process and a side-effect of my diabetes, so I didn’t do anything about it. I just muddled through, never realizing it was the prescription that was off-kilter, not my eyes.
So, when I got these new glasses, using a prescription that was accurate, I was amazed at how clearly everything looked. I was even more amazed that I had suffered for five years, never speculating my spectacles were less than spectacular.
When I remarked to my husband that I could see so much better, he reminded me of the time I got my first pair of bifocals.
After his exam, the young eye doctor told me, I needed bifocals. BIFOCALS? Me? Bifocals are for old people, I told him. He said, “Well, when one reaches a certain age…” I had to restrain myself from doing him some kind of bodily harm that would keep him from reaching his own certain age.
I told Dr. Smart Aleck I had worn contacts for years and did not relish giving them up. That’s when he said he got the brilliant idea that I should wear a regular-strength contact in one eye and reading-strength contact in the other eye. He promised me it would work. After a week of driving with one eye closed and sitting at my desk with my head cranked at an odd sideways angle that gave me such a neck ache, I stumbled my way back to the eye doctor, explaining this was not going to work. Then he suggested I could go back to contacts and use a pair of reading glasses. He even suggested that I could attach my reading glasses to a chain and wear them around my neck. He pointed out to me that his grandmother did and she had never lost her reading glasses. I pointed out to him that although I was a grandmother, I didn’t want to advertise that.
So, it was out with the contacts and in with the glasses. My bifocals (and my new prescription) have improved my vision. The improved clarity is remarkable, and the bifocals keep me seeing things in two ways – both near and far. I need for my eyes to focus on the small print as well as the big picture.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748) must have had bifocal vision, seeing both what was in his (and our) present and what is in his (and our) future. Watts read Psalm 98, just 9 verses long, and was inspired. He read, “The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations;” and “Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;” and “Let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.”
Watts wrote a hymn based on Psalm 98. His hymn celebrates the coming of the Lord to judge the world in righteousness. The hymn calls all nations and everything in the Earth to sing for joy at His coming. Not His birth, but His return. We know the hymn as “Joy to the World.” It’s too bad we sing that hymn only at Christmas, for that hymn focuses not only on the Child who makes heaven and nature sing, but on the Risen King and the day of His returning.
“Joy to the World” is a hymn with bifocal vision. We need to look back and praise God for the gift of His Son, for His ruling of the world, for the glories of His righteousness. Yet, we need to look forward to the day of His returning – when men employ songs, when fields, floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy, when the nations will prove the glories of his righteousness and the wonders of His love.
When we focus on Jesus’ coming AND Jesus’ coming again, that’s a bifocal vision of what He did, what He is, and what is to come. That kind of vision makes all things clear.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come; the Savior reigns; He rules the world with truth and grace. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) Joy to the world!
Verna Davis may be reached at VrdSpeaks@
yahoo.com.
Religion
THE JOY LADY: Bifocal vision: Focusing on Jesus’ coming AND Jesus’ coming again
- Religion
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THE JOY LADY: It’s not too late to send God a Valentine this year
I just finished up doing a little surfing on some Valentine’s Day sites. After the necessary censoring for language and questionable love hints, I have gathered a few Valentine hints that might make your upcoming Valentine’s Day easier.
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Paris church launches Bible-reading campaign
The Bible is the best-selling book in history, but how many people in our communities are actually reading it? A Gallup survey reports the average American household has four Bibles. However, research by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (2008) found that only 16 percent of Americans read the Bible every day.
- CHURCH BRIEFS: Feb. 11, 2012
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THE JOY LADY: Doug and I made one promise — to love each other
The first time I met my then future husband, he was no catch. Trust me. It was my first semester in college — August 1970.
- CHURCH BRIEFS: Feb. 4, 2012
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THE JOY LADY: Spurred on to husk out the good works left to do
I’ve got this thing. It was passed down to me inside a tin box that once belonged to my grandfather’s aunt. The thing is about 6-inches-long and 2-inches-wide.
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Maryland Community Church develops app
People can experience a church activity without physically being there. A smart phone helps make that connection for a Terre Haute church.
- Church briefs: Jan. 21, 2012
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BOOKS: Wabash Valley author to sign books at Java Haute on Saturday
Brazil resident Marjorie E. Hopkins will sign copies of her Christian Life book, “Dying to Meet Him: Wit and Wisdom from a Funeral Director’s Wife” from 1-3 p.m. Saturday in Java Haute, at 3805 Wabash Ave.
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THE JOY LADY: Be VERY careful with all the words you say
Our language is peculiar, isn’t it?
- CHURCH BRIEFS: Jan. 14, 2012
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New Signing for the Savior class beginning
Senior Education Ministries Inc. in partnership with Families by Choice and Park Place Apartments has scheduled Signing for the Savior.
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Holiness Association to offer Indoor Camp
Vigo County Holiness Association will offer an Indoor Camp from Jan. 17 to 22 in 8th Street Wesleyan Church at Eighth Street and National Avenue in West Terre Haute.
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THE JOY LADY: Lyrics of hymns, worship choruses soothe my soul
When my children were teenagers, I annoyed them. On purpose! Of course, their reaction to my attempts to annoy just added to my fun. The frustrated sighs, the shaking heads, the averted faces only served to keep me going.
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Church to break ground on sanctuary
Groundbreaking on new expansion and remodel project at Cross Lane Community Church is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sunday in the church at 2204 Lafayette Ave.
- CHURCH BRIEFS: Jan. 7, 2012
- Church Briefs: Dec. 31, 2011
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THE JOY LADY: With forming habits in mind, let’s ask some basic questions
OK. It’s over. Pack up the snowmen, the manger scenes, the mistletoe and the ornaments. Put the tree back in the box and cart it all to the attic. Christmas is over.
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THE JOY LADY: Do we forget that Christmas is all about Jesus?
I have a collection of manger scenes. Seventeen, as a matter of fact. A small one, about two inches by three, was purchased in the Holy Land and is carved out of olive wood. It was given to me a couple of weeks ago by a dear friend (thank you, Norma) because she wanted to add to my collection.
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NEWSMAKERS: Dec. 24, 2011
Seventeen individuals made their first commitments as Providence Associates during a recent Eucharistic Liturgy at St. Mary-of-the-Woods and at other sites across the United States.
- CHURCH BRIEFS: Dec. 24, 2011
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First Congregational Church offering ‘Longest Night Service’
During this season, we often think of Santa and presents, nativity scenes and the birth of the Savior, as well as family gatherings and meals.
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Independent Nazarene Church plans Christmas concert
The Singing Barrick Family will be presenting a Christmas concert at 3 p.m. Dec. 25 at the Independent Nazarene Church.
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THE JOY LADY: He is worthy: Are our hearts full of worship this Christmas?
Those manger scenes I’ve been talking about remind us that Joseph’s heart was full of courage and Mary’s heart was obedient. As for the shepherds — their hearts were full of worship.
- CHURCH BRIEFS: Dec. 17, 2011
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Christmas Dinner planned at Marshall church
The fifth annual Community Christmas Dinner, sponsored by Marshall First United Methodist Church will be on Dec. 25 at the church in the Fellowship Hall. Everyone who lives in the Marshall area is welcome to attend this free dinner.
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THE JOY LADY: Like Mary, we should give God our total, humble obedience
My heart needs to be more like Mary’s. Here she was, minding her own business, busily preparing for her wedding, when the angel Gabriel showed up and told her she had found favor with God and that soon she would be with child. She was going to give birth to Jesus, the Son of the Most High, whose kingdom would never, ever, never end.
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Sponsor a child at Christmas
All 18 elementary schools in Vigo County were able to submit names of three to five families from their school that need the most help for the holiday season.
- CHURCH BRIEFS: Dec. 10, 2011
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Terre Haute native on her book: It’s a ‘Bible study with a twist’
“Refreshing Bible study with a twist” is how Terre Haute native Mary Ann (Shouse) Crum describes her recently released book, “Live. Learn. Laugh! Stories and Studies That Reveal God’s Amazing Heart” (Xulon Press, 2011).
- More Religion Headlines
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THE JOY LADY: It’s not too late to send God a Valentine this year
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