“The Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.” Luke 19:10
It is said that the eye is, “the window of the soul”. This is to mean that the eye can reflect our emotions, our fears and the deepest shades within us. What lies deep within our soul can guide our lives in many ways. If we only could grasp how crucial it is to feed our soul with what edifies and gives life. There is a constant invitation that is extended to each of us, in which the giver freely offers. Within one’s gaze, we can hear what the other’s message, but sometimes we turn away. Eventually, our view is blurred like a pair of fogged glasses or worse we become blind to see the truth. “So it was we who strayed from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness did not shine on us and the sun did not rise upon us.” Wisdom 5:6
I recall, in my youth being interested in the life of Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan. When Helen was two years old, she became deaf and blind. In all she must endured, Helen went on to become a great advocate, writer and inspiration to many, including me. A positive force in her life was Ann Sullivan, a teacher, who was determined and devoted to helping Helen in many ways. I wrote a speech about Helen Keller, that won me awards but have always believed it gave me more that I had to offer others. Only God knows what life we have touched. Her life inspired me. Helen’s life must have been such an incredible challenge but Helen endured and overcame. Helen wrote a book, which I have yet to read, called, My Religion. In it she says, “she felt like an unconscious clod of earth” then suddenly things changed and she felt she had, “another mind”. Helen began to “live deeply within her spiritual self, cut off from normal sensation”. Her hands had new life. It is said, when a sense is lost, another becomes heightened. I can’t explain fully, why at such a young age, I longed to become disciplined in embracing the dark but also had an intense desire to live in the great light. At the time, I was too young to understand that circumstances we are given, can be barriers or deliverers. I believe, it was the silent conviction in my soul, that I was able to recognize God’s love in it. It was He who could fill a path with thorns or clear the way. It was He who I wanted to cling, to allow me to see.
There is a passage in the gospel of Luke in which Zacchaeus’, a tax collector, most likely unliked by many, yearns to see Jesus. The crowd blocks his view, his short stature interfered, as well as his state of life caused difficultly. So Zacchaeus climbed the sycamore tree to get a better view of the ‘Son of Man’. When this happened, Jesus, looked up and saw him and asked Zaccheaus to come down and dine with Him. Zaccheaus, who thought himself a sinner, accepted with joy. Jesus sought the sinner. We can all do well by reminding ourselves, that our life is never lost to sin. If we have hope of redemption, we have won a battle. If we can see Jesus in us, we can shine a great light.
When my daughter, was younger, and played soccer, she lost an earing in the huge field. There was little hope of us finding this tiny golden ring. I felt the need to go back to take a closer look. Imagine our surprise when there in this enormous field, I found this sparkling, little ring. More than the earring itself, it was the need to take a closer look, even when we think it hopeless, that stays with me. Maybe, we feel we are lost little souls in the world, but God can find and meet us where we are. He wants to hold our destiny in the palms of his hand. Trials and sin are not the end but the great beginning of love and virtue.
Peace and prayers,
Claudia
OurNourishedSoul