Seeing With The Eyes Of The Heart
Weekly Notes
The second Sunday after Epiphany
John 1:43-51
The next day, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean —
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down —
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Quotes
Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.
- Martin Luther King Jr.
All suffering arises from wishing for your own happiness. All happiness arises from wishing for the happiness of others.
- Shantideva, Buddhist poet
Spirituality is the science of compassion— to feel with the other, leaving yourself behind. This is the essence of the spiritual life— leaving your false behind and trying to discover your authentic self without being too worried about that.
- Karen Armstrong, scholar of comparative religion
Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
We can all see in the day, and this seeing is sacred for it represents the sight of that real world which we may have through the eye of the heart.
- Black Elk
Questions
What is your go-to cold-weather comfort meal?
What stands out to you in the lectionary text?
How might it connect with the season of Epiphany and themes of seeing and compassion?
What does “seeing with the eyes of the heart” mean to you?
What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Recommended Reading
Benediction
As we approach this week, may we
love God,
embrace beauty,
and live life to the fullest.
