Reflection
First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly
to take out the speck that is in your another’s eye.
Luke 6:42
Jesus tried to bring his hearers to a new way of seeing, a way that went beyond the conventional. His parables often contain images of seeing- “blind leading the blind”, “remove the log from your own eye”, those who “have eyes but do not see”. He presented a new ethic and a new social vision. With the clear eyes of his vision we can see the world differently and we can view people differently. Having removed the blocks to our vision, we look at people and all creation not with artificial social boundaries but with the eyes of compassion. Seeing differently, we think differently. Thinking differently, we can speak and act differently. How we see makes all the difference.
Prayer
Lord, that I may see.
Luke 18:41
Action
What are the “logs” in our eyes that prevent us from seeing people and events clearly? How can they be removed?
Suggested Reading
Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit . Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye? How can you say to another, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from another’s eye.
Luke 6:39-45
We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can — namely, surrender our will and fulfill God’s will in us.
Teresa of Ávila
An humble knowledge of thyself is a surer way to God than a deep search after learning.
Thomas à Kempis
When one is a stranger to oneself then one is estranged from others too.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.
Buddha
Knowing it and seeing it are two different things.
Suzanne Collins
Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.
Albert Einstein
Other men’s sins are before our eyes; our own are behind our backs.
Seneca the Younger
You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.
Harper Lee
Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.
Wayne W. Dyer
Seeing things from a different point of view can help us understand why other people act the way they do. We too often judge people without having all the facts.
Sean Covey
I want, by understanding myself, to understand others. I want to be all that I am capable of becoming.
Katherine Mansfield