“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God’s eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”
I’ve heard that this closeness with God described in this quote can happen over time with prayer. First, you are praying to God, but over time God and you are so close that you are praying through God instead. You are looking out at the world united. At least, that’s how some of the great mystics like Meister Eckhart describe it.
I’m not sure I’m there yet, but I love this quote because of the unity it hints at. It reminds me of the Two Standards meditation in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.
In the Spiritual Exercises, there is a meditation called the Two Standards. Basically, it’s asking the retreatant to reflect on where they plant their flag (so to speak) – on the side of Christ or on the side of the world. The hope is that as you come to know yourself and Christ more, you will stand more often on the side of Christ.
This meditation only comes after you have started engaging with the story of Christ in the Gospels. After you have started to really try to know Him separate from our learned depictions of Him. It comes after you try to identify for yourself what Christ stood for and what God is asking you to stand for as well.
This meditation that asks you what side you plant your flag on is a challenging one. I’m right now at the point in the Exercises where I’m supposed to reflect on it myself.
Of course I instinctively say Christ, but in doing so I realize that there is so much more I need to do to make that declaration real.
As an imperfect human being, I know I fail more than I succeed standing with Christ…. The Christ who loved, healed, forgave without asking if one was worthy first.
This quote by Meister Eckhart is aspirational for me. I want to look at the world and see it how Christ sees it – the Christ I’m coming to know as I enter His story more and more.
So my prayer this morning is to see the world today with new eyes – eyes that look first on the world through a lens of love.
