The Unblindness of Love

Transfiguration of Christ iconLove is not blindness, it pierces through skin and marrow with x-ray vision; it looks upon the other and sees the deeper things of the heart.

Love is not blindness, it hovers over all the earth, seeking every soul that will empty itself to create a dwelling place; it is joyful with the most humble and smallest abodes.

Love is not blindness, it hears the hurtful words but sees the wounded heart below the surface, and loves it all the more.

Love is not blindness, it feels the tossed stones, the blazing fire, the piercing nails, the stinging bullets, the cutting sword, and untold pain, yet keeps reaching out with open arms.

Love is not blindness, it discerns beneath the rebellious dark heart, a soul’s child crying out for freedom from the tyrannical passions.

Love is not blindness, it seeks unity, the consummation of oneness in all, without consuming, destroying, or depersonalizing the object of its healing touch.

Love is not blindness, it cools the raging of the defiant heart with its gentle honey-caress, finding its home within all while all seek a refuge within.

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I wrote the above while not only reflecting upon the love, lives, and sacrifices of the saints and Christ, but also while thinking about our culture’s attitude of “love is blindness.”  We tend to romanticize it a bit and we have lost our grasp on what true love is.

Many preaching tolerance speak of being “blind to the color of another man’s skin;” the teaching is also applied in other ways.  Some who live a sinful lifestyle that is not in accordance with the teachings and traditions of the church seem to like to think of God as a senile old man who is blind to everything but their heart, which they imagine is good because they think they are acting out of love.  We deceive ourselves though when we think of God as being blind to our sins, or as those things not mattering.  As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:9:

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Those who are embarking on the path of purity and love toward God through the mysteries of the Orthodox Church find that they do not become blind to faults, especially those within themselves.  Rather, their sight is increased and they see the desperate need for continual repentance.  They may also see faults in others, but it is not in a way that judges that person.  Rather they grieve with and for that person who is being thrashed about by demonic influences and passions of the flesh.

We serve a loving God who sees deeply into us, and with our cooperation, helps us to see deeply into ourselves as well.  When purified, we begin to realize that the “Kingdom of God is within” both ourselves and our neighbors.  We see others as children of the most high God, and not as someone we can use for our own purposes.  Let us pray that God delivers us from the blindness of the passions and lusts of the flesh, and grants us divine sight so that we may be worthy vessels of the Holy Spirit.

1 thought on “The Unblindness of Love

  1. The poem you wrote is beautiful and thought provoking…

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