| “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” |
| —1 Chronicles 16:11 |
“One of the things I like about you,” an acquaintance recently told me, “is that when you talk to me you look me straight in the eyes. Very few people do that.”
I was surprised by this statement because I thought everyone knew that, when you talk with someone, making eye contact was one of the most important things you could do. I have no trouble whatsoever making direct eye contact with individuals during a one-on-one conversation. Strangely, where I have some difficulty, owing to my extreme shyness, is making eye contact with people when I’m talking to a group.
Seeking the face, or looking into the eyes, of someone with whom we are engaging in a conversation has a very important benefit. It lets the person know we are listening intently to what he or she is saying and that he or she has our full and undivided attention. In a non-verbal way, it also communicates that the conversation is important and very worthwhile to us.
I learned this lesson from my salesman father. My dad would talk to me about something, stop talking, gently take my chin in his hand and tilt my head so that I was looking directly into his eyes.
“Look at my eyes, Pal,” he would say. “The eyes are the window to the soul. Show me that you’re listening to me and care about what I’m saying.”
One time I asked him how he learned the importance of making eye contact. He told me that he learned this lesson while serving in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. His drill instructor at Parris Island, South Carolina, had insisted that the new recruits learn to look directly into the eyes of everyone with whom they might speak.
In our relationship with the God who loves us, we cannot literally look into His eyes. But, when we communicate with Him, we can still act as if we can see those most beautiful, most fearsome, yet most welcoming eyes. We know that they are eyes of love, for He chose us to belong to Himself before the foundation of the earth.
In writing the Book of Jewish history that we know as 1 Chronicles, the author—believed by many, but not all, biblical scholars to be Ezra—records these words of praise by King David’s appointed worship leader, Asaph, as found in 1 Chronicles 16:11:
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
Throughout this new day, let’s follow these words of advice. Let’s look to the Lord in every situation we encounter. Let’s imagine that we are looking directly into God’s eyes. Let’s see His love and, by seeking His divine Presence, let’s move throughout our day with great confidence, knowing that we are His ambassadors to a very troubled and needy world. Let’s represent Him with all gentleness and humility. And, when we engage with others throughout this day, let’s look them straight in the eyes and allow God’s love to shine from our face to theirs.
Based on a blog originally posted on Wednesday, October 18, 2017
