The eye that communicates what words cannot.
Excerpt
Some eyes carry the moment. Other eyes are taught to see beyond it.
Intro
The scriptures teach that sight is not always natural. Sometimes the Lord allows understanding beyond ordinary vision. These moments are not constant, and they are not ours to explain. They come quietly, teach something essential, and pass.
There are also eyes that carry burdens the world cannot see. Their owner may not know what others perceive in them.
Two kinds of sight exist at the same time — one that is lived, and one that is given.
Notes from the Scriptures
When the servant of Elisha saw armies surrounding them, fear filled his heart. Elisha prayed that the young man’s eyes would be opened.
“And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:17)
The situation did not change. Only sight changed.
Enoch experienced something similar when the Lord instructed him to wash his eyes:
“And he beheld also things which were not visible to the natural eye.” (Moses 6:36)
Even Moses was invited to see beyond natural limits:
“Thou art my son… look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands.” (Moses 1:4)
Natural eyes alone could not perceive these things.
Perspective
In speaking of the man born blind in John 9, President Jeffrey R. Holland described how the Savior placed clay upon the man’s eyes and sent him to wash. After obeying, the man returned seeing. When challenged by those who doubted the miracle, he responded simply:
“Whereas I was blind, now I see.”
President Thomas S. Monson later reminded us that blindness is not always physical. Many “have their eyesight but… walk in darkness at noonday,” blinded by anger, prejudice, indifference, or neglect of truth.
“Their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed…”
“The Spirit speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be.” (Jacob 4:13)
“The light of the body is the eye.” (Matthew 6:22)
Practice Today
Today I will remember that sight is both physical and spiritual. I will seek to see people with compassion, recognizing that what is visible is not always complete.
Final Reflection
There are eyes that reflect weariness when the day is heavy. There are eyes that reflect quiet strength when burdens are lifted. The owner of those eyes may not know what others perceive in them.
And there are moments when, looking into them, something is seen that cannot be explained — not by imagination, but not by natural sight either. Like the servant of Elisha seeing the chariots of fire, or the man born blind returning from Siloam, or Enoch seeing beyond the natural world, the experience is brief and passing.
It is not given to be understood or held.
It is given to steady the heart.
One set of eyes lives the moment.
Another set of eyes learns from it.
Both belong to God.
Pocket I’m Keeping
“Whereas I was blind, now I see.”
What I Hear Now
“Open my eyes.”
“See with compassion.”
“Let the moment pass, but keep the lesson.”
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