Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.
How easy it is to see the face of Christ in the eyes of a baby or the limbs of a child racing a kite or the features of a movie star. The key to eternal life is to behold the loveliness of Christ in the eyes of a child born blind, the limbs of a teenager with cerebral palsy, the features of a woman scarred with burns. The truth is—the beauty is—each wears the face of Christ and they all play as one.
How many times have I averted my eyes from a picture in Time of a starving baby with flies on its face, or didn’t pay attention to the fellow slumped over in a wheelchair at a wedding, or found an excuse not to visit a friend wasting away with cancer, or pretended the family at the diner who had a noisy child with Down syndrome didn’t exist? And what a blessing it becomes to begin to see with spiritual eyes and behold the image of the emaciated baby as she really is, whole; to touch the man in the wheelchair and say hello; to visit a friend or acquaintance in the hospital or nursing home with a great big smile; and to stop by the table with the child with Down syndrome and touch his shoulder and tell him and his parents what a wonderful family they are. The truth is—the wonder is—that the words of Christ are literally true: “whatever you do unto these, you do for me.” And what we do for Christ we do for them and for ourselves and for the whole human race. For all of us, each of us, are one.
The science of Metapsychiatry (see pagl.org) validates this teaching by demonstrating that we all have a spiritual faculty to enter a rehab room and see the Christ who “plays in ten thousand places,” to help a homeless woman push her shopping cart across the street and know that the story of St. Christopher is the story of us all. Metapsychiatry calls this ability to realize what is really before our eyes the faculty of Beholding. Beholding is a higher faculty than the intellect or imagination, but one we have not been taught to cultivate. To behold is to see the invisible (what is real and lasting) in the visible (what appears and disappears). The body comes and goes, but the spirit remains forever. St. Paul teaches: “Look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal while the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Psychiatrist Thomas Hora (1914–1995), who founded Metapsychiatry upon the teachings of Jesus and spiritual learnings from other religions as well as psychiatry, writes:
There is more to man than meets the eye. We all have the faculty to discern spiritual qualities in the world. We can see honesty; we can see integrity; we can see beauty; we can see love; we can see goodness; we can see joy; we can see peace; we can see harmony; we can see intelligence; and so forth. None of these things has any form; none of these things can be imagined; none of these things is tangible, and yet they can be seen. What is the organ that sees these invisible things? Some people call it the soul, spirit, or consciousness. Man is a spiritual being endowed with spiritual faculties of perception.
Each of us can behold the truth of being in all of us.
Prayer: Jesus, the next time I see someone with what doctors call cerebral palsy or Down syndrome, grace me with the sight to realize what is really there: goodness, innocence, love, joy, intelligence, and abundant beauty. You embraced lepers and felt purity and the scales fell from their faces. Help me to know, right now: when I look at anyone I am looking at my Self, I am looking at You, for all of us, each of us, is a spiritual aspect of You and only You! God bless everyone! I close my eyes now and remember someone I’ve passed by or ignored and ask You to see Love for me. I am learning that I can behold You and everyone with the same eyes that You behold us. I am going to sit still now and listen….and see…
Thank you, Jesus. I have to go now and call someone up or maybe go to the hospital.
Find out more about the book that inspired this blog, Why Stay Catholic?
{ 13 comments }
Thank you for this Mike. This dedication to embracing the different, the sick, the dying, is what I value most about our Catholicism. If some of us sometimes feel not able, some of us are and serve as inspiration. No one is a stranger to us. There is a joy I never feel anywhere else but in a nursing home or a home for the terminally ill, or someplace with kids like Maryville kids. You are never in doubt that you are in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. And how often does that happen?
On this her 50 birthday and in this regard I would like to honor the memory of a lady with this particular gift, the late Princess Diana. Mother Teresa, her friend, said she could have been one of her nuns. She was able to bring joy and love and embrace people in the most adverse and some might say repulsive circumstances. She was one who did not have to serve, but did. May God rest her soul.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
Fr. GM Hopkins
Yes! Thank you, Catherine.
There are few words to add to this other than thank you. This was already beautiful, but considering what is on my heart right now, it is amplified for me… A blogging/FB friend of mine is in the final hours of her life, she may already have tumbled into the heart of God. She was Christ in the world and saw Christ everywhere in the world as she poured herself out in giving.
Please pray for Kirstin as she goes home and please send prayers for so many who loved and cared for her, none more than her devoted friend and caregiver, Andee.
Yes again! God bless Kristin and Andee. Thank you, Fran.
Fran,
I will pray for Kirstin and those who love her. How beautifully you express her.
Catherine, where did you learn about Hopkins?
Thank you. Kirstin did go home to God; she died on Friday night. This was her blog, updated more recently by Andee as things were winding down… http://barefootandlaughing.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-beginning-posted-by-andee.html
Every person is a means by which the Holy Spirit may knock at our hearts and knock away some of the stone we’ve allowed to build up through our own personal stubborness, fear or sin. This is a beautiful piece of how we are to learn to see with our hearts first what the eyes cannot yet see except dimly. Thank you for writing this.
Mike, you are truly God’s instrument. Thank you.
These words struck a real chord with me.
They are also very helpful for me as a mom. My four-year-old, like many kids, is very intrigued by people who are “different” (in a wheelchair, walking with crutches, etc.). At times he is just interested; at other times, he seems somewhat afraid. I get a lot of questions like, “Mommy, why is that man like that?” Your post is a great reminder that this is a teachable moment and a chance to reinforce the fact that each of us is “fearfully and wonderfully made,” no matter what our individual challenges may be.
A wonderful application, Ginny. Thanks so much.
Your words are beautiful and so necessary Mike! Sometimes I find it more difficult to see Christ in the faces of our ‘Wall Street exec’s’. There is an innocence, a real-ness in the faces of the poor, handicapped, etc. that speaks, not to our eyes, but directly to our hearts. It is heart-meeting-heart and this is ‘of God’. This is the language of Jesus. Thanks for this post.
A great reminder, Andie. Thanks.