Seeing

I've always thought my eyes were my best feature.

Eyes are sometimes referred to as the window to our souls.  Babies are attracted to our eyes.  Lovers gaze into each others eyes.  Dogs get upset if you look them directly in the eye.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  He's the apple of my eye.  In the twinkle of an eye......Well, you get the picture.  Our eyes are much more significant that just giving us a visual view of our world.  


I was struck by a statement I read in this week's Parade magazine.  The article was about a young mother who'd been burned over 80% of her body in a plane crash.  Her face was horribly disfigured and she feared her children would be frightened by the way her face looked.  Her doctor said she wouldn't be allowed to leave the hospital until she was able to look at herself in a mirror.  She moved the hand mirror slowly up to her scarred neck, her blotchy chin, her huge lips then to what was left of her nose, and she broke down and cried.  She was unrecognizable to herself.  But after a bit she tried again, picking the mirror up and moving it up to her eyes.  She writes, "My green eyes looked back at me, and hope rippled through my soul.  These were the green eyes I had inherited from my father, with golden flecks that Christian (her husband) loved.  I caught my breath.  I saw God in my eyes.  I saw reassurance.  I even saw a glimpse of triumph.  I was still me.  Those eyes were mine.  The life I saw in them came from God, and that gave me hope for the life of my body."


What do you see looking back at you when you look into a mirror at your own eyes?  Is there a sparkle there?  Or do you see contempt. Do you see hope?  Or just a blank stare.  


Now that I'm older and wear glasses I don't bother dressing my eyes up with mascara or eye shadow since they can't be seen as well behind the glasses.  The skin isn't as tight around them either.  But they still function well.  They allow me to read, watch movies, see where I'm going, but most of all they allow me to look into the eyes of other people.  And if I look carefully I'm confident I will be able to see God in the eyes of those people.


I came across this line in "The Solitary Summer", a story written in 1899: "I am quite ready to admit that though the fields and flowers are always ready to teach, I am not always in the mood to learn, and sometimes my eyes are incapable of seeing things that at other times are quite plain."


Father, I am not always ready to be taught and it is those times I am incapable of seeing You in others.  Help me to see with Your eyes because then I know I will find You in all the happenings of my life.


Link to scripture:   Matthew 13:16

Link to:  Open the Eyes of My Heart

Take action:  Helen Keller International