I stood there staring. It was a view I hadn\u2019t seen in a very long time, my backyard through a clean kitchen window. Colors! Shining, moving, blues and greens, inviting me to come out and play.<\/p>\n
I took a half step to the left. Yep, there it was \u2013 the faded gray, washed-out world that had become my normal, so gradually over time I hadn\u2019t even noticed. And as I absorbed that dreary scene, I could feel the old familiar gray mood settling back in. Time for a nap.<\/p>\n
Same me. Same reality; but vastly divergent perceptions of that reality. The difference? The condition of the lens.<\/p>\n
I think we\u2019re fairly clear-eyed when we first set out to follow Christ: in<\/i> the world but not of<\/i> it, living out our love of God and others. But hurts, hates, hardships and fears can leave our soul\u2019s windows gray and clouded, until eventually we\u2019re seeing reality less as God sees it and more as the world sees it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m the same person I was when I started the journey. The word of God in Scripture is still my life\u2019s guide. I still read Matthew 22:39, but now do I see strangers where God sees neighbors? And I take Matthew 25:31-46 to heart; but am I unable to see \u201cthe least of these my brethren\u201d anywhere outside of my hometown? I\u2019m still committed to obeying Leviticus 19:34; but do the eyes of my heart see the migrant as a threat to my way of life, not the strangers living among us whom I am to love as myself? <\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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.\u201d (Matthew 6:22, 23a)<\/p>\n
If I don\u2019t see what Jesus sees, are the eyes of my heart ok? If God is light and I don\u2019t see what God sees, what will fill me?<\/p>\n
If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!\u201d (Matthew 6:23b) <\/p>\n
Same me. Same God. Same Scripture. So if the light that reaches my soul is more gray than bright, more dark than light, it is time for some serious window cleaning. But how do we do it, where do we start? There\u2019s no Windex for that. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s a clue in Jesus\u2019 words. When he spoke of \u201cA good eye,\u201d that meant something very specific to his listeners that we can easily miss. <\/span><\/p>\n In Jesus\u2019 day, a person who was generous was said to have an ayin tovah<\/i> \u2013 a \u201cgood eye.\u201d (The Greek word we translate as \u201cgood\u201d captures the same meaning.) With an ayin tovah<\/i>, we see every child of God as our neighbor. We see \u2018the least of these\u2019 wherever they are in the world; we see the stranger among us, and cannot do less than love that stranger as ourselves. <\/p>\n Jesus\u2019 warning that without a good eye we can be filled with darkness is stark and powerful. But it\u2019s not just \u2013 not even first \u2013 about keeping the darkness out: it\u2019s about letting the love, joy and peace of the light of Christ pour in. Other people then become blessings, not threats. Even our daily lives are enriched. Being stopped behind a school bus isn\u2019t an inconvenience: it\u2019s a chance to enjoy the little children. Stuck behind someone in a checkout line isn\u2019t a waste of time: it\u2019s a chance for kindness, a chance to share a smile with someone. <\/p>\n Years of built-up smoke and grime don\u2019t come off easily. The first couple times I thought my window at home was clean; I stood back and found there were still streaks, spots, and dirt in the corners. So with the eyes of my heart.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s important to keep in mind that generous eye is not rose-colored glasses. It sees the dark as well as the light. It just doesn\u2019t confuse one for the other.<\/p>\n So when we start to suspect there are people we\u2019re not seeing the same way Jesus sees them, it\u2019s time to break out a big bottle of Generous and start cleaning. Apply liberally. And often. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I stood there staring. It was a view I hadn\u2019t seen in a very long time, my backyard through a clean kitchen window. Colors! Shining,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":92569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n