With science and technology, we can do so much with the human body. We can literally transplant a human heart from one body into another. We have found ways to help people who have lost limbs to function with artificial limbs. There are implants that help the deaf hear. In the future, who knows what other breakthroughs science and technology will make. I just wonder if anyone has stopped to ask the question if we should be making these breakthroughs.
For example, there’s the cochlear implants that help some people who are deaf hear. I have read that there are some people in the deaf community who don’t want these implants because they don’t feel that being born deaf is a disability. There’s nothing wrong with them. There’s isn’t. God created them perfectly. The same is true of me. I was born with near-sighted eyes. I would be living as a blind person today, but I wear glasses. I never thought my glasses meant that there was anything wrong with me. However, I can see the point. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with glasses, but at the same time, I want to accept that part of the plan was for me to have the retinas that I do.
I can’t pretend to understand God’s plan, but I think I might have a small idea why I have near-sighted eyes. Even though I am a visual learner, I have come to understand that I can experience the world in many different ways. Deep bass sounds help when I have anxiety. Certain smells and taste can set off memories and make me feel a certain way. The feeling of touch is really important in my life. I tend to care more about how things feel instead of the way the look and it has become a major part of how I live my life: I care more about how my life actually feels than the appearance I present to the world.
It’s possible all these factors would have developed without my being near-sighted. However, because of my sight, I have had to learn to depend on my other senses much more than someone who isn’t blind without glasses. Maybe I wouldn’t be as mindful of touch and what it means if I wasn’t near-sighted.
I started to think about the other medical treatments we have. There are some amazing ones that really do improve the quality of life for some people. However, there are some that I wouldn’t do. There are plastic surgery options that change the way people look. I can’t compare my life to anyone else. I can’t say that these options are wrong for anyone. The only person I know is me. First, because my life is about how I feel and not about appearance. To have plastic surgery to alter my appearance would be sinful. If I was in a horrible accident, I could understand, but to change the way I look now wouldn’t be right. The reason is it goes against who I am as a person. I wouldn’t be true to who I am. There’s another reason, too. It’s about the sin of pride. I believe in God’s grace and that means that He made me perfectly. He didn’t just make my mind and spirit perfectly; he made my body perfectly. Whatever I am in this body, I believe I should accept it. If my body is female, then God had His reason. If my body has OCD and anxiety, then God had His reason. If I am alive, then I am by the grace of God. I feel that I should be thankful for how He made me and trust in His plan for me. Anything less would be prideful thinking that I know better than God what my body should be. I don’t.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
