A woman captured my attention at Rotary Club. “I’m a mutant,” she said. “Most people have three color receptors in their eyes. I have four. I see 99 million more colors than the average person.”
I goggled Concetta Antico. Her story seems legitimate. Concetta said, “I consider my mutation a gift.” Her vision acuity is called tetrachromatic. She uses her ability in her profession as an artist. “But sometimes my vision gift can become a challenge,” she acknowledged. “The riot of colors in a supermarket aisle, can be a bit overwhelming.” I wonder how Concetta does with Christmas tree lights.
Tetrachromatic vision has its benefits, but super-human vision is not needed to see the beauty of the earth and the glory of the skies. Much more important than an additional receptor in the eye, is the focus of the mind. Consider Vincent Van Gogh. He covered his canvas with brilliant colors, and some scholars now believe he was missing a color receptor. They suggest that he was colorblind.
Whether we have two, three or four color receptors, we humans have the ability to choose how we focus our mind’s eye. Will we decide to look beyond the horrid sights that sometimes fill our screens when we flip a channel or click the mouse? Will we envision an alternative picture of hope?
The Christian scripture teaches that while mad kings were doing their dastardly things in days of old, God was bathing a little town of Bethlehem in light. God still imparts to human hearts the blessings of heaven. I have found that when my head gets to the heart of this message I have better potential to become a receptor and reflector of God’s beauty.
