Lenses
A camera lens allows light to pass through to a photographic medium; either film or, nowadays, a photosensitive cell that converts individual rays of light into a digital image. The lens may be designed to enlarge distant objects or provide a wide-angle view or an extreme close-up view. Of course, if the lens cap is not removed, we get a black picture. A dirty lens can introduce distortion or obscure detail that should have been in the picture.
In high school science class we used a microscope to examine tiny details of organisms, plants or other materials. It too had a lens assembly whose purpose was to greatly magnify the object you placed on a glass slide. The object had to be very thin so as to allow light to actually pass through it so we could see the details. Again, a bit of dirt or the failure to properly focus the microscope could cause us to not see the intended image.
Then, of course, there are those lenses that we wear (glasses or contact lenses) so our eyesight can be “corrected” and allow us to see what a normal, healthy eye can see. If the prescription is not correct for our eyes, or if the lenses get dirty, then our vision is adversely affected.
Finally, there are sunglasses in various colors and strengths to cut the amount of light reaching our eyes, regular and sunglasses with coatings to reduce glare or UV radiation, and bifocals for us really old folks.
Lenses, like attitudes, affect our view of things. What color are your “glasses?” What kind of light do they allow to reach your eyes? Are they rose-colored? Smoked? Dirty? How well do you see? What is your attitude?
Think in terms of how we perceive things around us or what we hear. Is our mind closed (like the lens cap left on?) Do we allow our perceptions to be clouded by vague or unsubstantiated “facts” (dirty lenses)? Do we fail to adjust for new information (remain out of focus) and thus make bad judgments? Do we filter “unwanted” information that doesn’t suit us?
What color are your glasses? Pray.
Don