Eye Drops and Original Sin

"Your corneas are so swollen that they are actually tricking your brain into thinking that you can see better with your glasses off than with them on. But that doesn't actually mean that your prescription is wrong. It's probably right, or very close to right, but you won't be able to tell until the infection has cleared."

That's pretty much verbatim what the eye doctor told me on Friday. And the reason why I'm thinking about it doesn't have much to do with the actual issue; after all, I'm on meds and I'm sure the eyes will clear up eventually.

But, as you know if you have read my past notes, sometimes I see things differently (no pun intended!), and when I heard this statement, it immediately made me think about Augustine and his teachings on original sin.

I am incapacitated to the point where I am incapable of seeing correctly. I am incapable of seeing correctly even with the corrective lenses that have been given to me in order to guide me toward healthy and happy seeing. I might think I'm doing ok because I can take off my glasses and see less blurriness, but in actuality, my eyes are messed up and there is nothing that I can do for myself to enable them to see better. I have to rely on the grace extended to me by the eye doctor, who granted me the authorization to obtain the prescription that should fix the problem (as well as the grace extended to me by my employer in the form of a salary so that I can afford to purchase the eye drops).

Same deal with original sin, if you subscribe to Augustine's teaching here. We are born into this world possessing a fallen nature, and thus, we are completely incapacitated to the point of being incapable of choosing God for ourselves. No matter how hard we strive for the good or how close we think we can get on our own, we are profoundly more helpless than we are even capable of ascertaining. Thus, it is His grace, extended to us, that enables us to accept Him.

You may not agree with the theology, and that's ok, but I find the analogy fascinating nonetheless.