Having eyes to see and ears to hear is what I long for. Jesus talked about it a lot. Churches don't talk about it enough. But what does that mean? I believe it's seeing with faith. It’s believing enough to hear through the noise. It reminds me of the Magic Eye books. Did you ever see one of those prints? They were unusual pieces of art. They were made of a colorful patterns repeated across the page, each line of the pattern slightly different than the next. Curious and tricky in nature, you would focus on a two dimensional print in order to see a three dimensional picture. You could look at it, walk right past it and miss it.
The first Magic Eye print I saw was at a gallery in downtown Dallas, Texas when I was young. My mom walked up to the print with me, explained the instructions and stood before the picture with her arm stretched out in front of her, pointer finger extended straight up. The instructions were to study your finger until the background, the print, begins to move and form into a picture. Wikipedia describes it this way: “The viewer must diverge his or her eyes in order to see a hidden three-dimensional image within the pattern.” It sounds trippy, but it totally worked. Soon you could see the picture, so you could lower your arm. Then you were able to get lost in the three dimensional picture before you of a castle or an animal or a ship. Once you saw the picture you could even step to the right or to the left so the picture would move with you. It was fascinating. Later, we bought a book filled with these prints. You could use your finger or you could use my technique, which was to hold the book right up against your face until the print got blurry from you starring at it a little cross-eyed, then you would very slowly pull it away from your face. The picture would get clearer and clearer until you could move your eyes about the page looking at this pop up scene before you that had emerged from the pattern on the page.
Believe it or not I have a point with this story. I propose that we must develop a magic eye. In order to have eyes to see, we must relearn how to see not just with our eyes, but with our hearts. Seeing into the kingdom is a multisensory experience that begins in the heart. The eyes of our hearts must be open, that’s why it’s important to guard our hearts. Learning to see into the kingdom and developing a magic eye is no trick. We may or may not look as wonky as I did trying to see the Magic Eye prints in my book, but we must practice this sight over and over until it becomes second nature. We must diverge our eyes in Christ so we can have kingdom eyes.
The first Magic Eye print I saw was at a gallery in downtown Dallas, Texas when I was young. My mom walked up to the print with me, explained the instructions and stood before the picture with her arm stretched out in front of her, pointer finger extended straight up. The instructions were to study your finger until the background, the print, begins to move and form into a picture. Wikipedia describes it this way: “The viewer must diverge his or her eyes in order to see a hidden three-dimensional image within the pattern.” It sounds trippy, but it totally worked. Soon you could see the picture, so you could lower your arm. Then you were able to get lost in the three dimensional picture before you of a castle or an animal or a ship. Once you saw the picture you could even step to the right or to the left so the picture would move with you. It was fascinating. Later, we bought a book filled with these prints. You could use your finger or you could use my technique, which was to hold the book right up against your face until the print got blurry from you starring at it a little cross-eyed, then you would very slowly pull it away from your face. The picture would get clearer and clearer until you could move your eyes about the page looking at this pop up scene before you that had emerged from the pattern on the page.
Believe it or not I have a point with this story. I propose that we must develop a magic eye. In order to have eyes to see, we must relearn how to see not just with our eyes, but with our hearts. Seeing into the kingdom is a multisensory experience that begins in the heart. The eyes of our hearts must be open, that’s why it’s important to guard our hearts. Learning to see into the kingdom and developing a magic eye is no trick. We may or may not look as wonky as I did trying to see the Magic Eye prints in my book, but we must practice this sight over and over until it becomes second nature. We must diverge our eyes in Christ so we can have kingdom eyes.