The popular song by Michael W. Smith, “Open the Eyes of My Heart,” echoes the timeless wisdom of Saint Augustine, who invites us to see ourselves, God, and the universe through the lens of our heart.
Could it be our heart has an eye, a lens? If it does, how do we access it? And what blocks us from heart-sight?
Our hearts contain our souls. We’re connected to God through this soul-space. It’s a sacred space within us where the Light of Christ, the Holy Spirit, dwells.
This lifeline to the Divine provides us with wisdom, guidance, and courage. It allows us to move into an awareness beyond the physical world.
We access the heart-space by becoming quiet, resting in stillness, and seeking the deeper Self created and held by Infinite Love. The landscape of our hearts has no horizon.
Our ego—which sees only the tangible physical world—is the block that prevents us from living from the heart. The ego helps us survive, but it tries to understand and control the world through the limited view of the mind.
It’s as if the ego—with its mental clanging that rattles through our heads—says to the heart, “Step aside. I’m in control. I’ve got it all figured out.”
The heart then smiles back. “How’s that working out for you?”
“Not so well. I could use a hand,” the mind reluctantly responds.
When the mind and heart shake hands, the mind sinks into the heart and they become dance partners learning the steps of life in unison.
I wish to see with the soft eye of the heart that Smith and Augustine describe. I want to view life from the gaze that unites us with Infinite Love. I wish to live from the vast landscape of the heart that has no horizon.
But my heart has no physical eye with which to see.
Somehow, in the quiet, the Divine finds me. When the cluttered clouds of my thinking-mind part and grace flows in and through me, I sense the Eye of my Heart. It’s placed by the Creator in the center of our chests. It sees life from inside out. It experiences wisdom far beyond understanding. It forgives others for the hurts they inflict. It allows the Creator to heal and transform us.
Give me your grace, Divine Wisdom, to let go of my thinking-mind. Let the thin veil—the illusion we are separated from each other—blow back gently in the spring breeze to reveal what my heart already knows—You and I and all Creation are One in Infinite Love.
Open the eyes of my heart.
—brian j plachtabrianplachta.net

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