#4: The Blindness of Our I's

I have a three year old son whose name begins with the letter B. He does not yet know how to read, but he sure can pick a B out of an alphabetical lineup. Whether we are reading a book together, shopping, or trying to keep him from moving the pieces while my wife and I play Boggle, he understands that the letter B is nearly ubiquitous; he knows he can find it if he will just look around. This he does, pointing out the B’s and shouting excitedly, "There’s my special letter!" As he grows and develops, he will begin to recognize other letters, but for now, he lives in a world that is nothing but B’s and gibberish.

Unfortunately, this is often the essence of our own worldview as well. The difference between my son’s view and our own is not one of style, but simply which letter we recognize. Instead of the letter B, we become obsessed with the letter I. We each let our world become nothing but I’s and gibberish. This excessive focus on "I" blurs our vision and inhibits our recognition of other letters. In a related paradox, the English word "eye," pronounced the same way as the aforementioned letter I, doesn’t contain the letter at all. If our eye is to be at all useful, it must expand its scope and see the whole alphabet, of which the "I" is but a small part.

I submit to you that there are more important letters in the world than the letter I. The letter U, for example, is certainly more important. I am convinced that if we as individuals focused a lot more on "U" and a lot less on "I," our lives and our relationships would be better for it. Try it, and see how it works. Step out of your comfort zone. You will come to see that from each individual first-person perspective, there is really only one "I" in the world, while the supply of "U’s" is nearly endless. As we adopt this point of view, the amount of time we spend focusing on "I," when compared to the amount of time we spend on "U’s," will begin to mirror this proportion.

While "U’s" are exceedingly more abundant and important than "I", there are two letters that surpass even the "U’s" in importance. They are the Greek letters Α and Ω. When our eye is fixed upon these two letters, our vision, rather than being limited, is actually enhanced. It is only when we focus on Α and Ω that we can see things as they really are, for a singular focus on Α and Ω allows us to see all other letters (as well as numbers, objects, and everything else) in their proper light.

[Note: Α and Ω - See Revelation 1:8 & 11, Revelation 21:6, and Revelation 22:13.]