Open My Eyes, Lord
Grace Andrews of Independence, MO, USA
…for we walk by faith, not by sight. -2 Corinthians 5:7
As we focus our eyes on things distant, we fail to see that which is directly in our path.
During a move to another state, we stopped for a short visit with good friends who lived about halfway to our home. Our 18-year-old son immediately put his beloved dog in their back yard where he could run around for a while. Then he came back in and joined the conversation with our friends. After a while, he decided to go out and play with the dog as he was in a strange setting. A few minutes later, he returned to the house. But in that few minutes, our friend had closed the patio doors, not thinking about them being absolutely spotless. As a result, he marched right through the triple-thick, plate glass doors. He bounced suddenly backward, doubled over, and fell. Shattered glass and blood were everywhere. We spent many hours at the hospital watching anxiously as glass was removed and he was stitched up. He was in shock, and our hosts were mortified that this calamity could have happened in their home. It was a lesson-today he is much more careful as he approaches glass doors. And our friends immediately put butterfly decals on their doors to prevent such an incident from ever happening again.
How often we see though a glass blindly, feeling confident that we know exactly what we are doing and where we are going. Our limited intelligence and vision may at times be so clouded that we are prevented from seeing clearly what lies just in front of us. As we journey through life toward the horizon to which we are sent, may we be constantly aware of people (and perhaps objects) that we need to see. If we look carefully, our spiritual eyes may see someone hurting who is directly in our path. We can depend on the Lord’s clear vision and His guiding Spirit to walk with us and open doors of opportunity we never imagined were there.
Prayer Phrase
“Over the years we melt into what we seek” (Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year).
Spiritual Practice
We are in the threshold between seasons in the Christian calendar. You may have been noticing the physical transitions of the seasons wherever you live as some enter the depths of winter and others the warmth of summer. The seasons are a visible reminder that even among the most predictable rhythms and routines of our lives, change is always happening. The events of our moments, days, weeks, years form us and transform us over time. We enter each season different from when we arrived here last. This is the nature of this cyclical journey of faith. In these final days of the Christian calendar and the season of Ordinary time, there is opportunity to take a sacred pause, to notice how you arrive in this threshold. What have you been formed by this year? What has been deepening you as you’ve lived through another cycle of this life of faith?
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
