In the mythic prelapsarian world there was no need for fig leaves other than by figs. There was no such thing as an unforgiving mirror but only the pure, exalting reflection off the still waters of Paradise Pond. The paradisaical lexicon of human language was absent of words like gorgeous, homely, good-looking, un-attractive, handsome, ugly, or dastardly words like celebrity, prejudicial, enemy, meanness, and dastardly. Some theologies contend that among the things that were lost when — as the blind Milton dictated to his amanuensis — Paradise was lost, was contemplation. Pure sight. Right seeing. 20/20 vision of the heart. Blessed beholding and the blessing of being beheld. The Divine gaze and gazing upon the light of the Divine. In such a narrative, there would be no such thing as comparison, no better or worse, chosen or rejected, beloved or besmirched, Plain Jane or Prince Charming. It would follow the Paradise-thread that every unique thing and the unique human other would evoke a correspondingly unique and adulating whoop and holler. Nothing was taken for granted. Every thing was beheld as possessing utter preciousness. Neither of the primordial parents overlooked, ignored, mocked, or rejected the other. Each one was appreciated by the other for his or her own singular exquisiteness. The word beautiful, which later came to connote something or someone extraordinary, referred to everything and everyone in the universe one could set their eyes upon. It referred as much to the act of seeing as to the experience of being seen or what was looked upon. The pleasure land was bathed in all its original splendor, primal innocence, anitdeluvian glory. Everything, each thing, everyone, and each one was freely valued, truly cherished, fully treasured, and wholly seen.

But that was then. This is now. That was Paradise. This is east of Eden. And whether it was an apple or a banana peel or a stumbling block or a trip wire or bad karma or a bad day or black ice that sent humanoids stumbling and tumbling and somersaulting and sliding down these deflating, deprecating, demeaning, dehumanizing slippery times, everyone and every one needs and deserves at least one other human person, one as-of-yet uncontaminated, guileless third or fourth grader (or one good dog) who sees us for who we are in the all-seeing eyes of God, who looks, beholds, and sees us for our inviolable, sacred worth, who takes delight in us with a giddy, infectious, all-embracing, fathomless, salvific, affirmation and appreciation, then parrots the Author of Beauty who spontaneously and vigorously oohed and aahed upon seeing everything that was made.

Father Larry Hillock, a Jesuit at Creighton University in Omaha tells the story of a visit he made to a local Catholic elementary school. After speaking to a group of students, a young girl — probably a third or fourth grader — approached him and struck up a conversation. A few moments into their conversation, a look of pure astonishment flashed in the student’s eyes.

Suddenly, she blurted out, “You’re blind!” Which is true. Due to a sickness, he lost his sight when he was just a small child.

With genuine tenderness, Father Hillock responded, “That’s not news to me.”

But before he could say anything else, she quickly moved from shock to sadness, replying, “You don’t know what you look like.”

That profound statement from such a young person caught Father Hillock off guard, and before he could comment she softly said, “You’re beautiful.”1

Here’s the deal, goodpeople, the really big, earth-shaking, life-changing, transformative deal: to be seen in this way — genuinely, passionately, fully seen, beheld in all our glitch and glory as beautiful — is contagious. It spreads like wildfire. The lovingly seen learn to see lovingly. The truly beheld are commissioned to truly behold. If you didn’t know this now you do. I commission you as a full-fledged member of The Band of Beholders Who Cause Others to Blossom from Within (or BOBWCOTBFW for short, or long).

Remember, anyone can unlearn what they’ve been wrongly taught to see in the mistaken way they’ve been taught to look and learn to see everyone and everything from a divine perspective. As the fox said to the Little Prince: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Oh, and one more thing: have I told you lately how exquisite you are, how magnificent, how effulgent, how stunning, how breathtaking? You are. Trust me, you are.

1 This story comes from The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth, Christopher L. Heuertz © 2017.

ARTWORK: (Bottom): The River by Lee Lawson. Used with the artist’s permission. See Lee’s work here.

♣ Thank you friends for stopping by THE ALMOND TREE. Maybe sit and look around a bit. Stay for as long as you like. Write a note. Invite a friend to meet you under The Almond Tree. Give the note to a squirrel or a bird. Ask them to deliver it. Then just wait. But while you’re at it be still, look, notice, behold, appreciate, enjoy, let yourself be acted upon by what you see, and then respond accordingly.

INTERESTED IN SPIRITUAL DIRECTION ONLINE? I offer spiritual direction online. If you, or someone you know, are interested in beginning or returning to spiritual direction CLICK HERE where you will find both practical information and explanations of spiritual direction. Any questions, feel free to contact me by going to CONTACT on the Menu bar above. Grace upon grace be yours. ~ Dan