Illumine Me, Spirit of God

Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me;

Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit of God!

These lines from an old hymn are still a powerful prayer for me. On Monday, as we talked in our discussion of Renegade Gospel, I was reminded that often we see what we expect to see. That I know. It’s one of the reasons we have been trying to ask ourselves at every staff meeting this question: where have I seen God’s grace at work in my life, and in the world? The more we train our eyes to see God’s grace at work, the more we see it.

We talked about what it is to look into the eyes of another and expect to see Jesus looking back at us. And what if those eyes of Jesus are in the face of someone who stands for something to which we are opposed? What if they are in the face of someone with whom we politically disagree? I’m not going to say here at whose rallies would that particular face be appearing, but the very idea of it struck me hard.

I have some repenting to do. I have some praying to do. Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit of God!

Matthew 25:45

Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’