Our relationship with the religious is first of all the word. It is above all hearing a voice that comes from somewhere else, it is believing in the invisible. Our temples say and show, where often nothing catches the eye, even if this means trivializing the space without fear of ugliness.
But faith received as a word is experienced as a look, a look widened by love, distorted by hope, illuminated by grace. This gaze opens gaps in the possible, breaks down the walls of evidence, of realism, of rationality. It sees the world in motion, men in formation.
Our happiness, our unhappiness, our fear or our hope depend on our gaze, both our own and that of others. Faith is a look that goes far, that comes from afar and that sees wide.
A look that goes far
It is the eyes of others that make us live. If they ignore us or freeze us, we are dead. If they judge, if they divide us into categories, functions, roles, social, religious, ethnic, political or other affiliations, they kill life. Here we are labeled, defined. But God's look upon us is infinite.
It crushes everything it classifies and closes down. It sees humans marching toward something they may not know, what they aspire to without really knowing. Behind closed appearances, this gaze sees the unfinished man, becoming like a child. It sees, behind the hardest facades, cracks and wounds, a secret expectation, a call to what is yet to be born.
This gaze sees the world in motion, humans on the way to another place. It is this gaze of God that faith opens, an energizing gaze, creating a future where everything is still possible. It is this gaze that we should try to adhere to and live.
But this far-reaching look is already found in the beauty, the wonder, the depth of meaning of the little things when you really look at them: a blade of grass, a handful of sand, a cloud, a ray of sunlight on the glass, light foliage dancing in the breeze, a childish gesture, a smile that lights up.
I truly believe that beauty is God's gaze, which shows us his unrealized dream, the true deep and ever-renewed desire for the earth and those who inhabit it.
We can already find it in the beauty, the wonder, the depth of meaning of the smallest things when we really look at them: a blade of grass, a handful of sand, a cloud, a ray of sunlight in the window, a light leaf dancing in the breeze, a child's gesture, a smile that illuminates.
I truly believe that beauty is God's gaze, which shows us his unrealized dream, the true deep and ever-renewed desire for the earth and those who inhabit it. We can already find it in the beauty, in the wonder, in the depth of meaning of the smallest things when we really look at them: a blade of grass, a handful of sand, a cloud, a ray of sunlight in the window, a light leaf dancing in the breeze, a child's gesture, a smile that illuminates.
The vision that takes us to infinity
Today everything encourages us to see only the surface of things. We are "locked in," locked out of ourselves. Multiple and permanent requests, visual and audible, contain us outside ourselves, depriving us of time, space, and the desire for any interiority, for any recollection in ourselves.
And for lack of perspective, of inner drive, our gaze is directed, guided, selective, and limited by what surrounds us and conditions us.
In the extreme, when everything is simplified and caricatured, there ceases to be a personal look, and the others also cease to be people, nothing more than pawns in a deadly game, whites and whites, blacks, allies and opponents. Partisan, racist, Putinian appearances.
Paradoxically, it is the inner gaze that reveals the deep bond that unites us to others, to the earth, to all its inhabitants. It sees beyond appearance, beyond evidence, and becomes a creator of life. It is deep within oneself that the gaze of God is joined, and that in this way one can see God in the gaze of others, see each one at once unique and different.
This look also allows us to pay attention to those whom nobody looks at, whom the misfortunes, the failures of life have isolated from others, whom their difference or their weakness weakens or marginalizes.
My name is Maria. I am passionate about theology and I have been writing about the religious world for 5 years. I am curious and research everything about the religions around the world. I love researching the curiosities that guide the most varied doctrines in different countries and languages. Today, I am an editor and love to share my knowledge on the portal Prayer and Faith.