“I look for thee, and do not see thee come.-- If I could see thee, 'twere a commoner thing, And shallower comfort would thy coming bring. Earth, sea, and air lie round me moveless dumb, Never a tremble, an expectant hum, To tell the Lord of Hearts is drawing near: Lo! in the looking eyes, the looked for Lord is here.” --G.M.
From the elusive bridegroom in the Song of Songs, to the invisible bridegroom in the parable of the ten virgins--indeed, to all the hidden “treasures” in other parables--the Lord would be looked-for...and found by looking "inward eyes" alone. The looking eyes of our physical senses cannot see him. The looking eyes of the heart, though blind to seeing what's outside, can see within when they are "opened" by him. Inwardly, "the seeing" usually dawns slowly, kind of like the blind man whose longing eyes were smeared with Christ's sanctified mud--he saw first trees, then men, and, finally, the Lord. For the looking eyes of the heart, sight usually comes gradually...that usually his way. Blessed are we, Jesus said, because we do not see him in the physical, "here-today" way. Oh, how we wish we could at times see him thus! But giving us shallower comfort is not his usual way. So we continue to inwardly ask, to seek, and knock--waiting with adrenaline rush--to see his Face dawn behind an opening door, within the veil. That is how the looking eyes of the heart see him. The eyes of faith, of hope, of desire, and desperation: these are the “eyes” which, to the delight of all that is within us, see Kingdom come...the Lord, the King, appears! And there is love in his eyes. Wow!
Abba, Father, thank you for the Divine Romance of the gospel. Open the eyes of our hearts to look for our Betrothed to come and to shatter our hard shell with his calling us “Beloved...”. Amen. --MOW
