This is about seeing…or not seeing. In this case it is both; then one or the other. Allow me a few paragraphs to explain. As we start, keep in mind the old cliché, “The eyes are the window to the soul.”

First, consider bird photography with me. I would like to be an expert, but honestly, I am not. Expert bird photographers give serious focus to the eyes of the bird. I found 5 rules for good bird photos. This is our chance…we can both learn something.

A great bird photograph should:

1.       Have one eye in sharpest focus.

2.       To have sharp focus the beak should be within 90 degrees of the camera.

3.       The camera should be at the same height of the eye of the bird. (Wow!)

4.       Light should be reflected by the eye.

5.       The eye should be properly exposed…meaning the iris of the eye shows.

No wonder bird photography is extremely difficult! The key is the eye of the bird. We must be able to see it clearly at the right height, in the right light and details must be visible all in the eye of a bird!

While capturing the perfect bird photo may be something beyond my ability level, my goal is: keep trying.

There is something eternal about our eyes. What we see with them and what we do not see with them matters. There is truth to the old cliché. Our eyes are connected to our souls. They can lead us to where we set our priorities. With our physical eyes we can view all the things of the earth. We can see all of its riches, all of its treasures. Our physical eyes can cause us to set our minds on earthly things. We want them. This may lead to greed and unhappiness at best. At worst, they lead to things often uncivilized. Yes, our physical eyes do impact our souls.

Why? Because our physical sight dictates what we set our values on, our souls are impacted. We have two choices.

1.       See the physical world as all there is-permanent…then our souls are set for earth. There is a definite ending here. This is a view without hope, no life after death.

2.       OR-See the physical world and its riches as temporary…then we can set our soul for heaven. There is eternity here -there is infinite hope in this view

You see it is true that what we do with our eyes effects our souls…and our eternity. Like bird photography we need the sharpest focus on this subject with lots of light or truth. And like a good bird photo we need proper exposure for this subject-all the details must be included.

What follows is a brief account, the details if you like, of a true historical event. It’s about humans “seeing” the world. There are two people involved, a woman and a man, but gender is not the issue. How these two “see” the world is what is important.

We begin in the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus (the man Jesus raised from the dead.)

With the scent of nard still filling the house...and more importantly, the gravity of what Mary had done for Jesus sinking into the hearts of all gathered-Judas squelched everything. His basic objection, amazingly directed at Jesus, was: what a waste! Here is the account from scripture.

“But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” John 12:4-6

Why his strenuous objection? Judas was part of a group in closest association with Jesus. He should have clearly known who Jesus was...and how wise, honoring and loving Mary was by anointing Jesus.

We miss the truth of who Jesus is for same reason Judas did. Loving Jesus before all things depends on where we fix our eyes, and what we see with the “eyes” of our hearts (what we value). How we see provides us with two choices: value what is seen or value what is unseen. Remember...what is seen (life on earth and its riches) is poverty compared to what is unseen. (Meaning, the infinite blessing of being in the presence of God in Heaven.)

Mary had her heart’s eyes fixed on the unseen. She saw Jesus as her eternal Savior. Judas had his eyes fixed on what is seen. It made him money hungry-a thief-even as he was a disciple of Jesus.

Seen or unseen? This is about seeing the unseen…about fixing the “eyes” of our hearts on what our eyes cannot. Where we fix the “eyes” of our hearts determines how we act toward Jesus. Again, there are only two ways we can act, which will it be: Like Judas? Or like Mary?

Remember, in a good bird photo, what we see needs to be in sharpest focus. And for our eternal lives, this is what we need to focus on: what we physically see is not permanent and what we cannot see, the unseen is. Our eyes are the windows of the soul.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  2 Corinthians 4:18

If we really want to see as Mary did, we can ask Jesus for “sight.” He is perfect at making the blind to see.