The Penny Perspective: Peering through Holy Eyes
Yesterday, after sharing the story of the sparkles on the pond, I pictured the scene once again. Though the moment along the water’s edge happened over a decade ago, I can still see my firstborn standing beside the pond, his sun-faded baseball hat perched atop his nearly bald head (Back then I wondered if he’d EVER grow hair and now I wonder if he’ll ever cut it above his eyebrows again!). And I can still picture myself- dirty blonde locks permed, poofed, hairsprayed, and bobbed-stooping down to see from my little slugger’s level. As I watch the replay in my mind’s eye, I realize that I would never have spied the stunning sunlit beauty if I had not bent low and looked at the world from my young son’s vantage point.
But what if I want to see the world through the eyes of my Heavenly Father? How does a seeker of wonder peer through God’s eyes to spot the sparkles of beauty scattered broadcast from His hands? If I must hunch to see through the eyes of a child, then surely I must stretch to view the world through my Savior’s lens! Yet, our upside-down gospel reminds me that the opposite is true. I need not stand taller to peer through Christ’s eyes. He has already stooped to plant His face beside mine. Two thousand years ago, Jesus hunched from the glories of Heaven to the dust of earth so I could see life through His lens.
[Christ]Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (Phil 2)
When I peer through the eyes of my stooping Saviour I see hope in the hurt, mystery in the mundane, and beauty in the boredom. And like pennies gleaming in unlikely places, the unexpected sight spurs praise. Each time I look at the landscape of my ordinary life through Holy eyes, I want to clap my hands together and celebrate the view we share.
The one who named himself the beloved disciple simply calls this view GLORY.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. …. He came to that which was his own… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1)
Today, I choose to live with eyes wide open, blinded by the sparkles of His glory!
The Overflow: “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” –Matthew 13:16
