Rose-Colored Glasses

The first time I remember experiencing rose colored glasses was looking out on the formal garden at Windsor Castle. I must have picked up some cheap sunglasses somewhere in London and put them on when we walked out on the balcony to view the garden. I still remember its exquisite beauty. But when I took the glasses off, I was appalled at the difference. For the garden was still lovely, but had lost its vivid luster and gleam.

The other day, driving along while admiring the beauty of the fall colors, I pulled an old pair of sunglasses out of the glove compartment. The leaves on the trees instantly turned to a brilliant gold and orange and red. The beauty was almost breathtaking, but not so when I pulled the glasses down my nose and looked above them. I was reminded of rose colored glasses and the phrase "looking at the world through rose colored glasses."

So I decided to do some research. Google of course. Every mention of the phrase, of which there aren't many, has sort of negative connotations. For instance, one article said parents tend to view their children through rose colored glasses, and they should wake up and realize their kids aren't all that great. I found references to the expression being viewed as "a cheerful optimistic" view of the world; and some "unfortunate people never take their glasses off." The phrase goes back at least 150 years when "it is first recorded in 'Tom Brown at Oxford': 'Oxford was a sort of Utopia to the Captain. He continued to behold towers, and quadrangles, and chapels through rose-colored glasses.'" (From the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson.)

Maybe rose colored glasses show us a bit of what heaven will be like. But if we always "wear rose colored glasses," we may not pay attention to our messed up world, or see things that need to be cared for or dealt with. Nonetheless, a little more optimism might not hurt any of us. And I'm thinking that with  the world-view a relationship with God provides, the world should be viewed with rose-colored glasses. For, as my five-year-old niece recently told me, "All that God made is very good." No matter what difficulties occur in life, we know all is allowed by God and touched by His hand.

I'll keep those rose colored glasses in the glove compartment. When I enjoy the view of life they give me, I'll be reminded that all that God made is very good.

Photo by A.S. My good friend is moving to Austria next month and this will be the view out her window. 
Text reposted from four years ago.