Under the Broom Tree

I have long believed that life is a musical and there is a song for everything. If we were clever enough, we could actually sing our way through the days.

My case in point is a recent experience under the broom tree. Since the loss of my brother last October I struggled to “get back to my old self”. Something just wasn’t quite right, so with trembling hands and twitching toes, I went to the doctor with suspicions of Parkinson’s disease.  Multiple tests revealed that all systems appeared normal, but I was struggling with cognitive function and extreme fatigue. The doctor’s diagnosis was RLS, and inspite of my doubts about the accuracy of the diagnosis, the meds prescribed have really helped with the twitching overall. Consequently I sleep better and have more energy.

While going through this process of elimination I developed another strange symptom. I could hardly keep my left eye open. A visit to my optometrist revealed a possible explanation, BEB, or Benign Essential Blepharospasm. If you think it’s a mouthful to say, you should try having it in your eyes! BEB is a neurological condition that causes spasms of the eyelids, including eyebrow muscles. In the most extreme cases a person can be considered functionally blind if they cannot open their eyes. Fortunately, mine is not so advanced.

I decided to visit a local ophthalmologist to get his opinion, and it didn’t take him long to confirm that it was indeed BEB. I’d already done a little research on the condition and learned that although there is no cure, there is a fairly effective treatment  in the form of botox injections. As a “lady of a certain age”, I might have eventually been interested in botox for deepening signs of wisdom (okay, wrinkles!), but it turns out that I became desperate to just  keep my eyes open!

Well, a week ago I had 13 injections of  a low dose of botox, with mixed results. For a couple of days it was fabulous, then the eyes were up to their old tricks again. I’ve got a follow up exam tomorrow to see if I just need a little bit more poison next time around.

Anyway, back to the music. My band, Elijah Tree (read my previous blog for more about this), performed Doctor My Eyes (a peppy tune from the ’80′s by Jackson Browne) recently at a Music Fest. I originally selected the song tongue-in-cheek, because, hey! you gotta laugh, right? But the more I listened to the lyrics, the more I like the song. It’s not so much about poor eyesight as it is about poor vision, as in apathy toward the human condition and suffering that surrounds us.  So it turned out to be apropos for the Music Fest on many levels.

So while I’m still working on a solution  for my eyes, I find that it’s the eyes of my heart that need the most attention. Homelessness, child abuse, domestic abuse , drugs and alcohol abuse, sex slavery, and all types of violent behavior surround us to the point of desensitizing us.  Apathy sets in because we are overwhelmed when we see the magnitude of the problem. We just shake our heads, say “that’s too bad” and move on.

We need a song of boldness, of courage, to leave our comfortable safe lives for the sake of another. What if we could see them the way the Creator God see’s them? What if, just for a moment, we could see who Jesus sees?

What if the  song was “Give Me Your Eyes”by Brandon Heath. Even if my eyes are squeezed closed, may it be the prayer of my heart, and always, with a song  in my heart!