Seeing Through Christ's Eyes

It is said that at the beginning of the twentieth century psychiatrists saw human beings as thinking beings who happened to have feelings to struggle with. By the end of the century, they concluded that the reverse was true. Humans are feeling creatures who happen to be able to think.

In a similar manner, day-to-day life leads us to view humanity as physical beings with spiritual struggles. However, there have been several thoughtful authors who argue that we are really spiritual creatures who wear our physical bodies like coats.

This point is more than semantic. Just as a cerebral self-image can cause a lifetime of vexation as we are assailed by a cacophony of emotions, so too are spiritual struggles impossible to overcome, if we fail to see ourselves as walking in a spiritual realm. Often, spiritual struggles are not even seen from a materialist vantage point. The assault of sin and its harm are subtle and slow when we consider only the physical.

Jesus spoke often of The Kingdom of God. He stated that his kingdom was not of this world, and seemed to care little for kingdoms that were.

Might this point of view prove critical to becoming more Christ like?

If instead of seeing sin as a bad habit, which we have a lifetime to break, we viewed it as a method for Satan to hurt God through us, how would we change? If we could view the verbal digs that we give and take as assaults on one another's souls, like stabbing one another would appear materially, what changes would we make in our relationships? Or, if we could see as with our eyes the torment of a soul experiencing profound grief and loss, how much more compassion would we find?

This is what Christ calls us to open our eyes and see. But, also, he wants us to see beauty; to see faith, hope and charity. He came to physically embody God, for a world blinded to the spiritual by the material. Through Christ's life, we tangibly perceive God's mercy, love and grace.

Mercy, Love & Grace

Life is a funny thing. It is both precious and fleeting, and yet we stumble through it only semiconscious of the present moment that God has blessed us with. Worse, we are often altogether unconscious of the purpose that He challenges us with, the entire point of this precious existence.

C. S. Lewis says that there are two time frames that Satan would keep our minds from, the present moment, and eternity. Further, he states that the present is the point where eternity touches time. The present is the only point in time that we can actually act in, or make a real decision about. Therefore, it also is the only point in time in which we can act towards our God-given purpose.

The most heinous part of this situation is that this state of anesthetized meandering seems rather benign from the point of view of day-to-day life. An hour passes in front of the television flipping stations. A day goes by at the mall wondering the stores. A weak passes at work getting little accomplished. However, soon these moments add to years, which turn to decades. At the end of the journey, our perspective may be quite different. Perhaps, we have mistaken an easy path for a benign one. This is why Thoreau says, "As if you could kill time without injuring eternity." These are the "lives of quiet desperation".

But there is good news. Glorious news! We still have this present moment, and a God who has put in place a grand plan to rescue us from our comatose prison. We still have the purpose that He created for us out of His tremendous love and longing. This is the Good News that Christ delivered to us.

This is God's mercy, His love and His grace.

The point of this journal is to help me to keep these aspects of God at the front of my mind, moment by moment. To keep me awake, and considering the purpose of this life. I hope that anyone reading this might be encouraged. God has gone to amazing lengths to show us that he loves us. All he asks of us is that we seek him, and love and encourage each other.