Fascinate...

1. to attract and hold attentively by a unique power, personal charm, unusual nature, or some other special quality; enthrall: a vivacity that fascinated the audience.


2. to arouse the interest or curiosity of; allure.


3. to transfix or deprive of the power of resistance,

I've been thinking of going for Lasik surgery for quite sometime now. It'll probably be done next year when I've saved up enough money. The idea of seeing clearly without glasses intrigues me. I can only imagine being able to see clearly once I open my eyes in the morning. Being able to play soccer without putting on contact lenses. I'm sure many of us who wear glasses have forgotten what its like to live without them. I've had them since I was in Primary 2. I think this rings true especially in Singapore where there is a high rate of myopia.

The problem with myopia, or short-sightedness, is that everything that you look at is a blur unless you hold it up really close to your eyes. But do you ever notice, when you do that, thats the only thing you see. There's really no way to admire an object or picture in light of its surroundings; in the context of its environment.

I think many people, including myself, make judgements based on myopic views. Opinions that are only based on what we've seen and heard when we were holding a person's flaws 10 centimetres from our face. We focus on the bad and the ugly and we forget that a person is still a person.

But I digress... My point is this. Clarity causes me to be fascinated.
1 Corinthians 13:12 --> For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Paul was talking in this chapter about Love and he said that Love is eternal. Even knowledge will pass away. My take is this; if we are walking in Love, that's when we see the clearest. This chapter on Love is talking about Perfect Love. Verse 10 says, "When the perfect comes, the partial will pass away."

Why does Paul compares prophecy, tongues and knowledge to childish ways? There is nothing wrong with prophecy, tongues or knowledge. These are noble, Godly characteristics we should strive after. But when compared to Love, these gifts are likened to looking at the world through a stained window. The emphasis here is Love. When we act in Love or show Love to those undeserving, that's when we see clearly. As if we were seeing Him face to face. That's when we have clarity.

And with clarity, we are able to pick out beauty. I don't want to be short-sighted. I want to challenge the world's thinking and the world's way. That is what Jesus was trying to do when he told us to 'turn the other cheek', 'love our enemies', and 'forgive 70 times 7'. Focus on improving any one of these things and you will see the results very soon. It gets easier to see Jesus in our church friends and in our lives. Most importantly, we see Jesus in people who need Him most. That is what fascinates me. The more I choose to Love the unlovable, the more I see Jesus in them. And ultimately, it is Jesus that draws more and more Love from me.