Do you remember the first time you put on a new set of glasses? You could see words on a page, signs on the freeway, the features of people’s faces. The world around came into focus. Or, perhaps you remember the first time you looked through binoculars to see a mountain in the distance or a ship out at sea. Looking through lenses, you could see clearly something on the distant horizon.

All of us have a set of glasses (a way of seeing, vision or reality). Our set of glasses is given to us, not by an ophthalmologist, but by our parents, extended family, childhood experiences, teachers, and culture (books we read, movies we watch, songs we sing). The set of glasses we wear determines our thoughts, guides the decisions we make, and influences our emotional life. The question then is: does our set of glasses focus reality or distort it?