2014-02

Aids to Vision
God gave us eyes to see, but a
multitude of man’s inventions
help us to use our vision better,
to communicate better and to enrich
our lives.
Many of us use spectacles and
contact lenses without a thought of
the years of development behind
these. We take binoculars into the
countryside or to cricket matches.
We use mirrors for personal
grooming, in our cars to aid safe
driving and at blind spots in roads,
but why do they fi t mirrors in lifts? My
fi rst thought was that they help those
who suffer from claustrophobia.
However, the real reason,
apparently, is that originally lifts were
very slow and quite dangerous, and
mirrors were put in to help people
take their minds off the ride in the lift,
as a distraction. Did you know that
many lifts also have small mirrors
to help those in wheelchairs to exit
safely?
We have Percy Shaw of Halifax
to thank for ‘Cat’s Eyes’ which he
invented in 1933 and are still helping
us to navigate safely on the road.
We also, of course, rely on traffi c
lights, crossing lights and a multitude
of, often confusing, road signs.
I once worked as a trainer and
it was invaluable to explain things
using visual aids. From handout
sheets to Powerpoint presentations,
the idea was to assist learning by
using something visual as most
people learn in this way rather than
through the spoken word. At church
we use projected images more and
more these days.
Before the telephone, people
communicated in many ways, often
by letter. I heard on Radio 4 the
other day that in Paris at the end
of the 19th century they had six
deliveries a day! Imagine that! Native
Americans used smoke signals to
communicate with each other and,
of course, in Rome, they show white
smoke to announce the arrival of
a new Pope (black smoke means
they have failed to reach a decision).
Mostly used for military purposes,
semaphore involves visual signals
with hand-held fl ags. At sea, fl ags
are coloured red and yellow, while
on land they are white and blue.
Someone is always trying to sell us
something using whatever medium is
best. Our lives are dominated today
by digital radio, LED televisions,
smart phones, and, of course,
everywhere we go someone has a
message for us – on billboards, in
magazines, TV and radio, and even
in the doctors waiting room we may
have a screen giving medical advice.
At least it is a distraction and an
alternative to reading that tattered
old Readers Digest from 2004!
Advances in science help us
to see far into space as well as
every tiny microbe. Micro-surgery
has improved patients’ lives
tremendously. Last week on TV
we saw a computer device for
undertaking real autopsies without
the need for the pathologist to cut,
saw and stitch up afterwards. He or
she just sits at a screen and looks
inside the body. Amazing!
We should be proud of these
developments; most of them
improve lives. God must look over
us and be proud that mankind has
produced enough brilliant scientists
and inventors too - he gave us eyes
to see and also brains to see more.
David Manning
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Church Offi ce: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffi eld S8 0GA
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
Page 10
email: offi ce@stchads.org
website: www.stchads.org