Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered.

• Genesis 27:1

Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

• Genesis 48:10

Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.

• Deuteronomy 34:7

Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”
The man hurried over to Eli, who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see.

• 1 Samuel 4:14-15

In looking at the Scriptures above, I think of the old Sesame Street song.  One of those four verses is not like the others.  I think Moses retained his sight because God wanted him to see the Promised Land.  He was not allowed to enter the land, but he got to see it.

But what got me thinking of this post was a joke by a very unique comedian.  Don McMillan, an engineer, so that puts him at the top of the list anyway, at least for me.  I am an engineer who has absolutely no biases…  Don created his comedy routines using PowerPoint.  He is mostly very clean.  A naughty word slips out rarely.

But in one routine, he claims that he has discovered the secret to a long-lasting happy marriage.

He shows a graph with a dot in the upper left corner.  He says something like, “When you first get married, your wife is the most beautiful person in the world, but over her life, age starts to show.”

At this point a curve forms from the dot moves toward the right and then slowly and then drastically drops to the bottom of the graph.

Then he says, “The secret to a happy, long-lasting marriage is that my eyesight worsened proportionally to her age showing.”  Then a different color curve traces just below the previous curve.

Then he turns to his left and says, “Honey, you look as lovely as the day we married.”  After an appropriate pause, hopefully for laughter, he turns back to his right.  “Oh, you are over there!  You look as lovely as the day we married.”

I laugh, no matter how many times I have seen that routine, but I have a bone to pick with this comedian.  He was an engineer in silicone valley.  He would understand my frustration with modern technology.

When High Definition, HD, televisions first came out, the sales person would ask me, “Do you enjoy watching sports?”  I nodded.  He then said, “With an HD TV and an HD signal, you will be able to see the golf ball in flight during a golf tournament broadcast.  You will be able to see the puck being passed from one person to another during the broadcast of a hockey game.  Get HD!  It’s great!”

Well, I delayed because HD was more expensive, the TV set and the cable package.  But as the technology became widespread, getting HD was the only option.  I now have HD TV and an HD signal.

But can I see the golf ball?  No!  Can I see the hockey puck?  No!

My eyesight on Don McMillan’s graph is near the bottom, and to top it off, my glasses became scratched right in the spot where I normally look.  With the cataracts removed, I see fine at a distance, where the TV is, but still no golf ball or hockey puck.

To be honest with you, I think God is in heaven laughing His head off.  I got the latest technology just in time to not be able to see the details anyway.

It’s all good though, when I arrive in Heaven, I will see the face of Jesus clearly.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.