The Eyes Have It

One of the ideas we find in the Bible is that humans are not able to look God in the face and live.  In Exodus 33:20, the Lord says to Moses, "You cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live."  The idea here seems to be that God's holiness is so overwhelming, so massive, that humans simply can't handle it.  It is similar to the way that we may go blind if we stare into the sun.  Our eyes simply aren't made to handle that much intense light.

There is, however, a counter-idea that we find in the Bible, which is that one goal of our lives of faith is actually to seek the face of God.  Psalm 42 pleads, "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When shall I come and behold the face of God?"  Psalm 27 insists, "Your face, Lord, do I seek."  And just nine verses before the above text from Exodus 33 (which prohibited seeing the face of God), we read that "the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend" (Exodus 33:11).

To seek the face of the Lord, or not to seek?  That appears to be the question.

In a corresponding manner, we may think about the power that is found in the eyes of others.  In the course of ordinary daily activity, it is entirely possible to go throughout an entire day without ever really looking into the eyes of another person.  We interact with others, we talk with others, we may even look at the eyes of others, but we may never really look into the eyes of other people.  Why is this?
My sense is that this is because looking into the eyes of another person is such a powerful thing.  Looking into the eyes of other people slows us down.  You cannot look into the eyes of another person while you are in a rush.  You cannot do a "drive-by-look" into another's eyes.  If you look into the eyes of another person, you must stop doing everything else, slow down, and give them your attention.  In biblical language, you must "die" to your haste and your hurry.  (Maybe that's part of what it means that we cannot look at the face of God and live.  A part of us - the part that is in a hurry - must die.)

For people who are in a hurry, this is a real problem.  It is much easier and faster to just talk at someone, to get what you need from them, maybe even check in with them how they're doing, but then to carry on with whatever you're doing, and not to engage with them.

But when we look into the eyes and the face of another person, it is as though we enter a different sort of time and space.  It is more intimate, and we are brought closer to the reality of the other person.  It is popularly said that "the eyes are the window of the soul."  If this is true, then when we look into the eyes of another person, we are drawing closer to the core reality of the other person.  This proximity to the core of another person may feel threatening to us, or it may feel threatening to the other person.  (It has long been the case that tyrants and overlords would not allow their subjects or servants to look them in the eye.  To do so would violate the brittle lines of social hierarchy, indicating that the two persons were, in fact, equal human beings.  What a radical idea!)

In the coming days, I would invite you to the spiritual practice of looking into the eyes of others, not just at them.  Experiment with what this feels like.  What feels refreshing and renewing?  Does it feel threatening or unnerving?  Does it feel relaxing, and can you feel yourself slowing down?