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Ananda
3115 Posts |
 Posted - May 12 2010 : 3:13:54 PM
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The gospels tell how Jesus turned
and looked at Peter
—and how that look changed Peter’s heart (Matt. 26:75).
If Jesus were to come back to the world today,
what would he look at first?
I imagine that what first attracts his notice
is the overwhelming goodness in humanity.
The good-hearted person sees goodness everywhere;
the evil-hearted evil,
for we tend to see in others
the reflection of ourselves.
Jesus uncovers by his look
the love, the honesty, the goodness
that hides in every human being.
I see him looking at a prostitute,
then I look at her as he does
to discover what he sees in her.
I see him look at hardened tax-collectors,
at an adulterous woman,
at a thief on a cross beside him,
and I learn the art of looking!
When Jesus looks at evil he calls it by name
and condemns it unambiguously.
Only, where I see malice,
he sees ignorance.
At the moment of his death
I see him drop his anger at the Pharisees;
he looks beyond their seeming malice,
“Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they are doing.”
I take time to look and listen,
for it will educate my heart.
I now look at the world myself.
I imagine that each time I meet a stranger
or walk into a group of people
I see each person’s goodness.
I look at all the people I live
and work with.
How much goodness can I see
in each of them?
It is impossible for me to love “evil” people
and people I dislike
unless, like Jesus, I see good in them.
So I imagine Jesus here beside me
teaching me to look at them afresh:
to make allowances,
to search for ignorance
and mitigating circumstances.
After which I say something like this
to each of them:
“Your deeds are evil, true, but you are good.”
Or I say, “I condemn the evil you are doing,
but I cannot censure you,
for you really do not know what you are doing.”
To end this exercise I expose myself
to the loving look of Jesus.
As I gaze into his eyes I am amazed
at the goodness he detects in me.
I tend to blame myself for al the wrong I do
—he uncompromisingly condemns my sins,
but stubbornly refuses to condemn the sinner.
I shrink, at first, from his loving gaze,
for it is too forgiving
and, in my hatred of myself, I cannot bear it
But I know I must sustain that look
if I am to look at other people
the way he looks at me.
Anthony De Mello, SJ
www.demello.org |
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amoux
United Kingdom
266 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2010 : 3:51:44 PM
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Exquisite.
Thank you, Ananda
_/\_ |
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2010 : 4:20:43 PM
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you are most welcome Amoux |
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Wellsprings - THE EDUCATION
