LOOK GOD IN THE EYE

[1]Have you ever had this happen? You’re at a party and the person you’re trying to converse with is continually scanning the crowd over your shoulder. It’s so irritating when someone won't make eye contact. It can leave us feeling disconnected or dismissed.

Of course, the converse is true as well. One of the best feelings is when someone looks us in the eye and makes a meaningful connection. It’s then the moment becomes personal; it's then our defenses drop, and the intimacy and honesty levels go up.

Sadly, human beings tend more toward the party behavior. A classic rule of body language: when we’re hiding something or feeling insecure, bored or angry, we pull away and retract our gaze. Why? Because we can't hide when we look someone in the eye.

The great treasure of the Corinthians reading is the rare, inside glimpse into the life of St. Paul. He doesn’t defend his apostleship by citing his human “accomplishments.” He, instead, briefly lists what he has suffered for Christ and the Gospel.[2] We can only image what Paul’s eye contact was like as he shared his experiences with the Corinthians.

How might our spiritual lives be affected if we looked God in the eye? To look God in the eye means to stand honest and vulnerable; to be willing to open up, willing to make it personal, willing to allow God to peer into the windows of our souls.

It sounds a bit intimidating doesn’t it, yet, it's really not so hard. If God is the great creator of the universe, as it says in Genesis, then God's eyes can be found everywhere we look. Perhaps it's something as obvious as the recent full moon, or the eyes of God are found in the eyes of those we love, in the eyes of a stranger, in the eyes of the priest in the confessional, or even deep within our own heart. In reality, the hardest place to look God in the eye is when we look the person in the morning mirror in the eye. Do we see God there?

If we truly looked God in the eye, perhaps we might engage nature in a more spiritual way; giving thanks for the beauty we encounter every day. Rather than turning away from the unpleasant images in the newspaper or on television, perhaps we need to make more of an effort to look in the eye of the stranger, the hungry and the homeless—to feel their pain, to empathize with their situation. When we search for God's eyes in our own heart, maybe we would be more honest in acknowledging our own brokenness, struggles, and fears.[3]

During this newly emerging spring, try looking God in the eye. When we open the lamp of our body up, God looks upon us, God knows us, and through that intimate and honest connection, God desires to fill us with His light. All he asks in return, is to share that light by looking into His eyes in the others we encounter today.

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[1] Scripture (NABRE), 2 Corinthians 11:18, 21-30; Matthew 6:19-23

[2] Weekday HomilyHelps, Exegesis by Jeannine Constantinou, PhD

[3] Psychology Today, “Looking God in the Eye” by Susan Sparks, posted March 23, 2011