Finding Peace in The Pain

A couple of months ago, I went to the optometrist. When I sat down in the chair, we made a bit of small talk before she began the examination. She said to me that 1) I was farsighted (which I knew) and 2) that I am in the minority because there are far more nearsighted people in the world than farsighted. Now that I didn’t know!

The thing about being farsighted is not just the obvious — that you can see more clearly when you are further away from an object. But that you actually have a wider view of the setting. Your view has broadened. Your perspective changes because you not only see more clearly, but you see…more! And the more we see in life — or the more our perspective widens — the more we begin to understand that there are far more possibilities for peace!

I confess that lately, I’ve have been struggling with this concept of peace. There is much divisiveness, hatred, hostility, and animosity. We’re in a pandemic. People are dying. And many more are horribly sick. My question is, how do we widen our perspective beyond the pandemics of hatred, divisiveness, and death? How do we find peace — or even joy — in a boiling cauldron of chaos and calamity?

First, we — all of us — must widen our perspective. We must have a vision that is farsighted enough to understand and believe that we are 1) interconnected, 2) stronger together, and 3) tied together by our humanity. With this in mind, we realize that our broadened perspective means that we include others in our human journey.

Scientific studies have shown that when we begin to express ourselves using the pronouns “us” and “we” rather than “me,” “mine,” and “I, we live healthier lives! The mental transformation of articulating one’s acceptance and connectedness to others in our society leads to lowered levels of depression, hypertension, and even heart attacks! And when we adopt a “we” attitude rather than a “me” attitude, our complete context changes, our understanding is heightened, and our perspective broadens. There is a transformation by the renewing of the mind because we have spoken our connectedness to one another despite our unique differences.

So how do we find joy or peace despite hostile situations? For each of us it may different. For me, in my context, I look back to the traumatic period of slavery. But out of that horrific period came spirituals, the blues, and jazz — that uniquely American form of musical expression born out of the pain of a people.

And here in our world — whether it’s here in the United States of America or on the other side of the world across the Atlantic or the Pacific — there may be tumultuous situations in your personal life and/or in your communities. But I encourage you to widen your perspective and see the horizon.

One of the final things that my optometrist told me is that nearsightedness is called myopia. I think I had read that somewhere earlier, but a refresher is always good. But what I didn’t know was that nearsightedness, or myopia, is caused by the inability of light to focus on the retina. Think about it. Nearsightedness is caused by the inability of rays of light to connect with our eyes. Sight is distorted because rays of light are being bent, and images are being focused in front of the retina instead of on the retina. Images are distorted, misshapen, misrepresented, skewed! And that’s what we often have when our perception is narrow and nearsighted rather than farsighted and broadened. Images of others are often distorted, misshapen, misrepresented, and skewed! Situations are often distorted, misshapen, misrepresented, and skewed!

Beautiful people, if we’re going to find peace and joy; if we’re going to widen our perspective, we must allow the light that we find in its various forms, in various places to shine into our lives. And let’s not stop there. When we receive that light, pass it on to the next person. Remember, a candle never loses its energy or its light when it lights another candle. It actually burns brighter! So during this time of fear, unrest, pain, hatred, divisiveness, and yes, even death, let us seek the light. And let us pass it on!

May you find unstoppable purpose, passion, and peace!

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