Turn my eyes...

When we wake up in the morning and head into the bathroom, we may think we look just fine - that is, until we turn on the lights and look into the mirror. Then we can see how we really look. Our hair is pushed this way and that. Our eyes are puffy with dark circles underneath.  Our face is wrinkled from the creases on the pillow case. And, we may even find the remains of a bit of drool (yuk!) descending from the corner of our mouth.  We thought we looked pretty good, until we turned on the light. 

And so it is with our souls. We can feel pretty good about ourselves. After all, we don't commit any of those "big sins". We think that our soul, our heart, our spiritual life all look pretty good. Again, only until we turn on the Light and look into the mirror. In this case, that light is Christ. He is the light that illuminates our lives.  Christ is also the perfect standard that we are called to imitate - the mirror to which we turn, to clearly see how we look spiritually.  We are called to look like Christ in our hearts, in our souls, and in our lives.  

This hymn, which I wrote over a decade ago, is a prayer that Our Lord would help us turn our eyes and our hearts toward Him, and so help us see all those parts of us and our lives that still need to be conformed to His image. 

Just like our reflection in the bathroom mirror, the closer we get and the brighter the light, the worse we look (I hate that!).  Likewise, the closer we are drawn to Christ, the more our sins and spiritual failings are revealed to us. The difference, however, is that although we may be stuck with certain less than perfect aspects of our physical appearance, our souls and our lives can be transformed completely by walking ever increasingly in the light of Christ. 

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Turn my eyes...
by Joseph Weilenbeck

Lord, I ask You, turn my eyes
Toward Your holy looking glass.
And do not let them turn away.
To Your mirror’s image, hold them fast.

Lord, I ask You, help me see
All that You mean for me to be.
Shine Your light on every sin –
Each way of man I’m walking in.

Search my heart, and search my mind.
Convict me of all that You find.
Abolish every sinful way.
All pride and self, I beg You slay.

Lord, transform my very being.
Let me become all You were seeing,
When You, before I drew a breath,
Ordained my days from birth to death.

Grant my place in Your sure plan.
On higher ground, take me to stand.
Your Holy Spirit, my heart fill.
Let all my life be in Your will.

Until I see my last sunrise,
And close, for good, these feeble eyes.
Till I behold You on the throne,
Lord, keep them fixed on You alone.

Lord, I ask You, turn my eyes
Toward Your holy looking glass.
And do not let them turn away.
To Your mirror’s image, hold them fast.

 Joseph Weilenbeck 2005