careful little eyes

I am learning more and more about myself these days. I am also learning a lot about the world around me. Sometimes I like what I am seeing and other times I don’t. I am also learning that if I want to see something different, I must be something different. In fact, my biggest lesson is that what I see is determined by what I am.

Think about it-the world around us is basically reciprocal: the reality we perceive and the view we have of ourselves go together and feed back on each other. I am becoming more and more aware that my view of others is a direct reflection of my own mind set. If I am selfish, I will be suspicious. If I am generous, I will likely be more trustful. If I am honest with myself, I won’t anticipate deceit. If I am fair, I’m less likely to feel cheated. In a sense, looking at people can be like looking in a mirror.

Maybe Jesus was referring to this when he said, "Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven. 38 If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving—large or small—it will be used to measure what is given back to you." (Lk. 6:37- 38)

Jesus goes on to say that bit about taking the telephone pole out of my own eye before I go after the toothpick in someone else's.

By the way, why was Jesus so accepting of others? I mean, He had such a way about Him. Could it be that He was so healthy, so secure, that His eyes saw what few others could see? When others saw trash, He saw treasure. He saw undeveloped potential. He looked into people’s heart and saw worth and undiscovered gifts. He saw the image of God!

I am having a shift in my thinking. I am not asking what is wrong with everything and everybody else. I am asking a new set of questions of myself these days. What is going on in me? What is my potential? What is my worth? My answers to these questions determine what I see and get back from the world and everyone in it.

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” -Jesus (Luke 6:22-23

May God transform the eyes of our hearts to see a whole new world!

Chris