Across my life, I have heard the phrase, “open your eyes!” lots of times. Usually, it is an agitated expression intended to show me that I am being blind to something someone else thinks is important. Other times, though, it is the prelude to a pleasant surprise as in a birthday gift for which I am told to close my eyes at first, until the proper preparations are made and then told to, “open your eyes”.
Opening our eyes is a choice we make. Sometimes we choose not to open our eyes. We are afraid of our uncomfortable with what we might see when we do. Remember all those scary movie scenes where you just close your eyes until they are over? That is clearly a choice. But don’t we do the same thing in life? If we are honest the answer is yes we (I) do. It is called “turning a blind eye” to something that is important.
Throughout the New Testament, well the Old Testament too, we are told to open our eyes. To see all that is around us. In some of these examples, we are really being told to open our hearts. “Give us this day our daily bread” is supposed to be an eye opener I think. I add to the prayer, ” and help me to remember all of those who have no bread”. As in, please help me keep my eyes open to the need in the world.
During these times, when hatred has become acceptable, we need to open our eyes and see. The caveat here is, whose eyes do we see with? The call for all Christians is to see with the eyes of Christ. To see this life with the eyes of the Living God. Leaders who foster anger, fear, and hatred are not the problem, they are the symptom. And we find these leaders in the church as well as in government. No, these people are not the problem, they are only exploiting that which we turn a blind eye toward in ourselves.
And, that my dear ones, is the real issue for each of us. We can, as Jesus said, “see the speck in the other person’s eye while ignoring the board in our own.” To turn that seeing eye inward is hard to do. It means we have to die to ourselves and see ourselves as God does, all the good and the bad. We have to admit that we allow these problems in our world to happen because we just refuse to see them.
I can speak for me, I work daily to see as much as I can, even the painful things about myself. Trust me, there are lots of those, just ask those closest to me. And therein lies the answer, the One closest to me loves all that I am and sees me completely. Open your eyes to as much as you can. Life becomes fuller when you do.
TMM