The Eyes Have It (Eph 1:18)
The ability to recognise how you see things can enable you to glimpse the treasures your life secretly holds says John O’Donohue in Anam Cara: Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World, Bantam, 1997. He says that depending on what is behind it the eye can be fearful or greedy, judgmental or resentful, indifferent or inferior, or loving. These are defined as follows:
The fearful eye concentrates on those things that can hurt or damage you and is continually besieged by threats in the world around us.
The greedy eye concentrates on those things it can possess and is therefore never satisfied but haunted by that which it does not yet have.
The judgmental eye see its world divided by lines and circles, a world of black and white, excluding and separating, and is equally harsh on itself.
The resentful eye lives out of its poverty and can never enjoy what it has, forgetting its own inner wealth and begrudging others theirs.
The indifferent eye seeks only its own ability to control the world around it, seeking its own power with cynicism and despair.
The inferior eye is always looking away from its own treasures, towards everything that is better, brighter, more beautiful, and can never celebrate it own potential.
The loving eye looks at the world rising up before it full of invitation, possibility and depth, and sees through and beyond image and affects the deepest change.
We have been given the power to determine how our eye sees the world, yet many do not exercise this dominion. Often we have abdicated our kingship to someone else (mother, father, teacher, friend, etc.) by wearing their glasses which may view our world through distorted lenses. The Pharisee Saul, a persecutor of Jesus’ followers, was blinded on the road to Damascus and three days later while being prayed for had “scales” fall off his eyes. His eyesight renewed and subsequently renamed Paul who became Apostle to the Gentiles.
I remember meeting a wonderful farmer who had the cynical scales peeled from his eyes and begun to approach those around him in a new way. He always had assumed everyone was against him and so everyone confronted by this attitude actually was. He somehow became educated to this and began to make believe that people were actually for him and they were. He had changed from grumpy to kindly and pretty soon people loved him for it. He was the creator of love returning to him. I also remember the moment my own scales peeled away as I walked a dusty road and saw for the first time the awesome exuberance of colour in hills which before had seemed just a pile of rocks and bush. Not only did I see this created beauty but at the same time it dawned inside me how very much I loved my wife and children.
These seven points listed above allow us an opportunity to see these scales for what they are. They group together the shades through which each of us views the world and I am convinced that many of you will find a new way after seeing this. As for St Paul in chapter one of his letter to the Ephesians I also pray, “that the eyes of your understanding will be enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints...”
The fearful eye concentrates on those things that can hurt or damage you and is continually besieged by threats in the world around us.
The greedy eye concentrates on those things it can possess and is therefore never satisfied but haunted by that which it does not yet have.
The judgmental eye see its world divided by lines and circles, a world of black and white, excluding and separating, and is equally harsh on itself.
The resentful eye lives out of its poverty and can never enjoy what it has, forgetting its own inner wealth and begrudging others theirs.
The indifferent eye seeks only its own ability to control the world around it, seeking its own power with cynicism and despair.
The inferior eye is always looking away from its own treasures, towards everything that is better, brighter, more beautiful, and can never celebrate it own potential.
The loving eye looks at the world rising up before it full of invitation, possibility and depth, and sees through and beyond image and affects the deepest change.
We have been given the power to determine how our eye sees the world, yet many do not exercise this dominion. Often we have abdicated our kingship to someone else (mother, father, teacher, friend, etc.) by wearing their glasses which may view our world through distorted lenses. The Pharisee Saul, a persecutor of Jesus’ followers, was blinded on the road to Damascus and three days later while being prayed for had “scales” fall off his eyes. His eyesight renewed and subsequently renamed Paul who became Apostle to the Gentiles.
I remember meeting a wonderful farmer who had the cynical scales peeled from his eyes and begun to approach those around him in a new way. He always had assumed everyone was against him and so everyone confronted by this attitude actually was. He somehow became educated to this and began to make believe that people were actually for him and they were. He had changed from grumpy to kindly and pretty soon people loved him for it. He was the creator of love returning to him. I also remember the moment my own scales peeled away as I walked a dusty road and saw for the first time the awesome exuberance of colour in hills which before had seemed just a pile of rocks and bush. Not only did I see this created beauty but at the same time it dawned inside me how very much I loved my wife and children.
These seven points listed above allow us an opportunity to see these scales for what they are. They group together the shades through which each of us views the world and I am convinced that many of you will find a new way after seeing this. As for St Paul in chapter one of his letter to the Ephesians I also pray, “that the eyes of your understanding will be enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints...”
Comments