“To you, I lift up my eyes, are you who are in throne in the heavens.”

– Psalm 123:1

 

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face and the things of Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.” (Helen Howarth Lemmel)

Narcissus, in mythology, a beautiful youth, son of Cephissus (the Boeotian river) and Liriope, a nymph. He loved no one till he saw his own reflection in water and fell in love with that; finally he pined away, died, and was turned into the flower of like name. (Oxford Research Encyclopedia)

 

I’m growing out my hair.

Not long.  Just a short bob.  But a big change from what my hairdresser calls a “pixie cut”; the same hair style I’ve had, well, since I was married.  33 years ago.  I think this may be my version of a midlife crisis.  I wanted a change and a red sports car not only isn’t in my budget but isn’t actually even something I would want.  I’m tired of looking the same as I have for the past 33 years, and growing out my hair seems like an easy solution. 

So, now I’ve hit the point where I have a Justin Bieber swoop to my head to move the bangs out of my eyes.  I catch myself doing that after instead of before, which meant for a lot of amusement for my family.  The other day on Zoom I kept catching a glimpse of myself swooping my head, patting down the ‘Melvins’ (as my kids used to call the involuntary sticky up places) and tucking my hair, with futility, behind my ears.  Because, you know, its not quite long enough yet to actually tuck behind my ears. 

I also noticed how, well, obsessed, I was with my hair when I was on my Zoom call.  To the point that I actually clicked “hide self view” so I couldn’t see myself anymore.  “Hide self view” worked well enough that I stopped swooping my head and patting down the Melvins.  It also helped me focus on the Zoom meeting instead of myself. 

And all of this got me thinking. 

Can we somehow globally “Hide Self View”?

Because in many ways, it seems like we’ve become so in love with ourselves that we are pining away and dying like Narcissus. 

And, of course you know I mean that metaphorically, right?  But really, we have become a society so obsessed with how we appear, that we have lost purpose.  And its not always positive, right?  Just like me patting down Melvins, we try and pat down the areas of our lives that are sticking up and embarrassing ourselves.  You know, when we do something that is less than perfect.  Or even when we mess up royally.  Or when we appear or act in ways that deviate somewhat from the social media curated norms.  We can even extend this to being obsessed with how our families reflect back in this mirrored pool; or how our work community does; or how church does.

We really have lost the whole idea that not only does this “Self View” skew the way that we view the world, but that the faithful response is to

Hide the Self View.

Totally.

And instead, to do what the old hymn writer wrote so many decades ago.  To “Turn (our) eyes upon Jesus.”.  To lift our heads away from the reflection in the pool that is ultimately going to lead to our demise.  To stop evaluating ourselves based on how we believe we look to others; by the curated social media norms, even by the expectations handed down to us by our families of origin, or the society we grew up in. 

And instead – maybe “expose God view”. 

The view that reminds us that our appearances don’t mean anything.  The view that reminds us that its not all about us.  The view that reminds us that who we are, already has been seen, evaluated, and has been found perfect. 

Blessings today my friends, and remember that what matters is that we are Loved. 

~Rev. Lynne