Praying for Eyes to See

I remember playing little league baseball. I started playing baseball when I was about 8 and kept playing until I was about 16. I was not a very good hitter, but I was a pretty good catcher so I ended up playing baseball for several years, even though I couldn't get the hang on hitting. I stopped playing in high school largely because I wanted to play golf, which I was much better at. I went on to college, then to Grad school and eventually got back to Wisconsin in my mid 20's, which led me back to playing recreational baseball. Here's the thing...all of a sudden I could hit. All the way through my little league, junior high and high school years I never could get the hang of hitting; but now all of a sudden I was hitting the ball and hitting it well. I played baseball through my 30's, getting the joy of playing softball with my sons until my late 40's. I decided to hang it up after realizing I still could hit, but kept wondering if falling over dead on the base paths from a heart attack in my old age was going to be a good way to go!
Anyway, what I realized -- sometime in my 20's when I started to play again -- was that in all of my early years my problem was that I always batted with my eyes closed! I realized that the difference was in my older years I kept my eyes open, and it made all of the difference in the world. I could see the ball, so I could hit it. Pretty simple, huh? I got to thinking about this. I kept my eyes closed, because as a catcher I knew the way the ball came to the plate, and I was fine as a catcher with all of my padding and the face mask, etc..., but when all of that was removed, I was pretty vulnerable and I was afraid. Fear led me to bat with my eyes closed. Not very smart, but understandable when you think of a child's desire to avoid pain. I began to wonder...in all of those years why didn't one of my coaches ever observe what I was doing and try to instruct me in the simple art of keeping your eyes open. I don't know...they simply didn't. Perhaps they were focused in -- as often leaders can be -- on performance. "C'mon hit the ball, you can do it...that's ok, next time..." It's encouragement without instruction. It has made me realize that fear needs to be addressed...we need to walk into our worlds with our eyes wide open.
Here's something to meditate on: 2 Kings 6:20 is one of those "wow" passages on opening our eyes. As well, so is Isaiah 42:5-7...
Oh God, I want open eyes!