by Dr Greg Bottaro (from the blog “being human” – Catholic Psych Institute)

This really has been such a crazy year, and it feels a bit as if we’ve all been pushed to our limits in so many ways.

In reflecting back on the beginning of 2020, it seemed that we started it off with such high hopes! In the beginning, we thought this was going to be the “year of perfect vision” – the year we would finally be able to see clearly.

At this point though, we’re just relieved to be crawling over the finish line!

One thing we may have forgotten is that so often when our vision is “off” or not-quite-perfect, we need some sort of corrective applied in order to attain 2020 vision. Many people have to get corrective surgery to see clearly, and it’s not a comfortable or easy or painless process. In fact, it’s kind of invasive.

But at the end of the day, those uncomfortable and painful corrections help us to see more clearly.

This year has taught us more than ever that we are not in control. But even though we can’t always figure out how everything is going to work out, if we believe that God will be faithful to His promises then all we need is to trust that however it unfolds, it is going to be okay.⁠

Maybe God does want us to have more perfect vision as we move into 2021, and 2020 was just the “corrective surgery” we needed to move into that more perfect vision. Let’s reposition ourselves to leave this year behind and see more clearly all that He is doing in our lives.

“May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage he offers among his holy people, and how extraordinarily great is the power that he has exercised for us believers…” (Eph 1:17-19).