Awakening to New Perspectives: Seeing with the Eye of the Heart

Background: I wrote the bones of this as a reflection for the quarterly theme of “Awakening to New Perspectives” for Well for the Journey’s “Well-being Wednesday Meditation,” offered on January 29, 2025. Every Wednesday, people dial in at 8:00 am (EST) over the phone to listen to a free 15-minute reflection/meditation to nourish their souls. Anyone is welcome! The meditations are recorded, and they can be accessed anytime here: https://wellforthejourney.org/wbw-library/

“Awakening to New Perspectives” is a compelling theme. At this time in human history, I believe we are being called to awaken from our spiritual slumber to become more conscious of Goodness within and around us, especially in those people who offend or anger us. Another word for Goodness is Godness. We are called to awaken to God’s presence in and among us, often in surprising new ways.  

One way to awaken to new perspectives is to practice “seeing with the eye of the heart.” This concept keeps jumping out at me repeatedly in various forms.  

Can it be that the healing of the world depends on shifting the way we see- especially the way we see others and the way we see ourselves?  

As humans, our minds are filled with thoughts, judgments, worries, opinions, fears, and anxieties. Our unceasing thought patterns can entangle us, keeping us stuck in a continuous loop and significantly impacting our perspectives.  While looking at ourselves and others through the eye of the mind, our perspectives can become clouded with biases, illusions, blame, and, significantly, judgments. We judge ourselves; we judge others.  We all do it. It is part of the human condition. And it can be rough. 

I should note our minds are essential and often marvelously constructive. They help us plan, organize, connect the dots, calculate, strategize, reason, and create. Mine helped me write these words. Let us give thanks for our minds! 

But sometimes, we can be too controlled by our minds. We forget that we are NOT our thoughts. That’s precisely when we need to shift deeper into our hearts.  

Think about the heart. What does it symbolize? Love…connection…belonging… compassion…kindness…acceptance. The world needs more of all of these.

In December, part of my morning quiet time was reading a book by spiritual writer John Shea called Starlight: Beholding the Christmas Miracle All Year Round (Isn’t that a great title?).  In it, he writes about spiritual perspective. He points out that when we walk the spiritual journey, a new way of seeing emerges, and we notice things we have never noticed before. We often see things we have always seen, but we see them in a new way.  

The following passage has rocked my inner world:  

“In the Book of Revelation, Christ exclaims, ‘Behold! I make all things new’ (Rev. 21:5). It should be stressed that he makes no new things. Rather, he facilitates a way of seeing that makes all things new. People often say, ‘I am seeing it for the first time.’ What they mean is that something they have seen physically many times is now seen in a new light… This new light is the spiritual perspective. It is a light that comes from within.” (my emphasis added) This spiritual perspective, he says, is called the third eye, the inner vision, and the eye of the heart. 

BOOM. Please take a moment to read and ponder his words. What resonates with you?  

My response: WTF? What do you mean, God doesn’t make all things new?!?  I pray for God to intercede in this crazy world and bring about a new peace, a new world order, new love and kindness, and new people to bring us to a new place. I pray for a lot of new! 

Do you mean it’s up to me and us? Do I have to see with new eyes? What am I called to awaken to? Is what I’m looking for right here, but I just can’t see it?  

By the way, friends, I’m not giving up hope that God is at work making all things new. However, I realize that I have some work to do, too. I need to try to wake up, shift my spiritual perspective, and practice seeing with the eye of the heart. It is challenging work, but what if seeing with the eye of the heart can bring healing and love to our world?  

In each human being (yes, that means everyone- you, me, and all other beings, including those we don’t like), there is an innate goodness…an inner divine radiance…that is part of the Eternal. We are made in the image of God. We are not God of course, but we have part of God in us. It is our divine DNA. A spark of divine love dwells in our heart space.  

Often, it requires that we pause and momentarily extract ourselves from the chaotic energy and thoughts of the mind to shift ourselves into the warm, loving light of the heart. When we make time to remember, honor, and nurture that goodness, we become empowered to see with the eye of the heart.   

In these chaotic times, it’s easy to get mired in thoughts of worry, grief, fear, angst, and anxiety. Most of us are stuck looking through the eye of the mind. It is painful.  

I invite you here and now to join me in a short practice of looking at ourselves through the eye of the heart, bringing forth kindness and compassion.  

Please follow these prompts slowly, allowing generous pauses.  

While seated comfortably, with your feet on the ground, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths at your own pace…Place one hand on your chest over your heart…Continue breathing…feel the warmth of your chest…Perhaps you feel your heart beating, pumping blood through your body…Imagine warm, loving light expanding out from your heart. See it surround you…Feel that energy…Feel unconditional love embracing you. Accept this love… Relax into this love. Know how deeply you are loved….  For the next 60 seconds (or longer, if you like) simply relax into the warm light of unconditional love and acceptance.  

Now open your eyes and look around. Can you sense any difference in what you see? Do you sense a softening of sorts?

What if seeing with the eye of the heart became a daily practice? I believe it could change the world. 

Meanwhile, while we work on seeing with the eye of the heart, I am not giving up hope that God is working on making all things new.

A blessing for all of us:  

Friends,  

May we practice seeing with the eye of the heart,  

bringing healing and love  

to ourselves, to those around us, and to the world. Amen. 

Love, 

Mabeth