Reading the Small Print

Reality is setting in.  It's pretty clear that I'm getting older.  As I sat in the exam room listening to thousands of patients being told, "You need bifocals or reading glasses," when I worked part-time for an ophthalmologist for seven years, those days seemed in the far future for me.  I would scribe the diagnosis on the chart:  presbyopia, which means the inability of the lens to focus.  Yes, it seemed very far away for me in my life.  Not so any more.   In fact, that diagnosis for me seems very near or actually "here".

Saturday my daughter and I went shopping out of town.  She let me choose lunch for the day and I chose an Italian restaurant that we hadn't been to in a long time.  I knew exactly what I wanted to eat, but she wasn't sure.  As I flipped through the menu, I noticed that my favorite dish also came as a family meal.  It was only $7.49, so I asked her if she wanted to share.  I was so surprised that the price was so cheap, but thought we might splurge on dessert somewhere later on in the day.  I checked the price again, just to be sure.  The portion said it would serve 2-3 people.  "What a bargain!", I proudly thought to myself.

Our meal came and it was delicious.  It served us and we even got a to-go box to put leftovers in to take home.  The waitress brought the bill.  Much to my surprise, instead of the meal being around $10, it was almost $30!  I told my daughter how much it was and how much I thought it was supposed to be.  I reasoned that it must have been my mistake, that it must have really been $7.49 per person; however, with that reasoning, it still should have been less than $20.  I asked the waitress if I could see a menu because I didn't think the meal was that much.  She gladly brought a menu to me and even stood there to see what the problem might be.  Sadly, that was when I realized that the problem was me - my eyes to be exact!  What I thought was $7.49 was really 27.49!  No dollar sign in front!  (My daughter reminded me later that menus don't usually have dollar signs.  Thank you for that tip, Lauren.  I'll remember that the next time I make a $20 mistake. :) 

So, the waitress apologized for the amount.  I reassured her over and over that it was my fault and that I was just proving to myself I was getting old and needing reading glasses very soon.  She laughed and probably thought that was in the long, distant future for her....just like I used to do!

I paid my bill and left a generous tip!  I didn't want to appear cheap, of course! (ha ha!)

Sometimes it's hard to read the small print.  Sometimes we fail to see the small print.  The small print can get us in trouble, just like it did for me.

The Bible is full of lots of words....lots of small words and lots of big words....but all inspired words of God.  The font or type of a Bible may be small, but the message is big and of utmost importance.  God doesn't hide anything from us.  He doesn't want us to miss anything in His Word. 

My presbyopia reminded me of how many in the world actually choose to neglect or fail to focus on His Word.  They either take what they hear from others or maybe by written accounts of men and women, but don't actually read the Word for themselves.  They have spiritual presbyopia.  They neglect to focus on their spiritual lives.  However, no over-the-counter reading glasses or addition of bifocals to their contacts or glasses will help with this problem.  The only cure is to open the Word for themselves.  To open their eyes and focus on what God's Word has to say to them.

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Matthew 6:22-23

After my daughter and I left the restaurant, do you know what we did?  We went looking for me a cute pair of over-the-counter reading glasses.  If I'm going to be needing them soon....they might as well be cute, right!? :) (or maybe I'll just take one contact out and do mono-vision. hmmmmmmm)