The Eyes of Faith and Recognizing God
Before I get to my thoughts on how we need eyes of faith to recognize God‘s action in our lives, I have some random stuff in my head that I would like to share. Maybe it will tie in somehow, maybe not.
Yesterday, I finally got to listen to a live Vericast podcast. I found Vericast a couple of weeks ago and have been checking out their videos and recordings of past shows. Vericast for those who don’t know is “the hardest-hitting Catholic podcast on [or off] the Internet.” For my readers who haven’t seen it you should check them out at Vericast.net. I’m sure they won’t mind if I give them some props and pass along where to find them. My readers who do know Vericast, well, you are already in the loop. Anyway, I finally catch a live show. I don’t enter into the chat although I do follow it. I usually lurk at first, I like to get the feel of people sometimes before I just jump in. I was a shy child. Most people don’t believe me when I tell them that. Well, there is nothing like being the mother of 6 children to knock the shy right out of you. You can’t be afraid of the dark, big storms, or the creepy noises outside. Or at least you can’t show it because all of those scared little faces are looking at you to make them feel better. You can’t be shy either because you have to step up. You have to have authority, you have to wear authority and you have to go out in the world and get them what they need. Uh oh, I hit went off on a tangent. I can do that sometimes. Let’s get back to my podcast experience. Near the end of the show I decide to call in, seems I couldn’t help myself. Next thing I know, I am “live on the air” which has only happened to me once before in my life. It seems that I must have been a little nervous because when I listen to it later I could hear the stutter I get sometimes. Otherwise I had a good conversation and they talked nice about me after we got off the phone. Looks like they didn’t really mind the stutter. Because I found Vericast, though, I also found their social network, Sheeoh which I joined today and expanded the boundaries of the Catholics in my life. The Lord seems to be opening new doors for me. What was that? God’s action in my life? Guess I found the tie in after all.
Recognizing God’s action in your life with the eyes of faith is just another way of saying that you have a relationship with him and can recognize when he is there. After awhile you realize that he is always there. That his love and action in your life, flows through your life all the time. We are able to recognize his face in the crowd of all the reasons of why or how. In the crowd of faces, of coincidence, luck, just the way things worked out, the stars aligning in our favor, etc, we recognize God’s face. So when something repeatedly comes into our life sometimes, others might say “that’s odd”; “I wonder what that means” or even “I think someone is trying to tell me something”. We already know who it is and will say “Lord, what are you trying to tell me, teach me, show me right now?” When provision comes at just the right time rather than thank our lucky stars, we recognize the God face in the crowd. When he strengthens us, comforts us, stands with us, carries us, teaches us, admonishes us though others may see differently we recognize him.
I could sit here and list all the ways God has made his presence known to me from the miraculous to the mundane. Tell you of the interior conversations that we have had. Tell you that during some of those conversations I know not only his presence but his posture and demeanor. Many times, though, even with the miraculous there could be reason to doubt. Maybe that was my imagination. Maybe I just needed to see it that way. Maybe I am just looney tunes. But by using the eyes of faith you just know better.
When I was around five, give or take, I had a dream. I was outside at night and I looked up at the moon. I could see Jesus in the moon. He looked like the picture of Jesus that hung on the wall of my grandmother’s bedroom. I looked around and everyone else was just going about their business as if nothing was going on. It was obvious that nobody else could see Jesus in the moon. Jesus was talking to me. I could see his lips moving but I couldn’t hear him. No matter how hard I tried I could not hear him with my ears. Now many would say that it was just a childish dream, not significant. Or that I had seen that picture at Grandma’s and it triggered a dream about Jesus. But here is the thing. It has been around fifty years and I still remember that dream. I can close my eyes and recall it. I have always been able to recall it. How many of you can recollect a dream from fifty years ago. Yeah, that’s what I thought. And the reason I couldn’t hear Jesus with my ears was that he wasn’t talking to my ears he was talking to my soul. I knew from then on that I would not always be able to hear Jesus with my ears but that didn’t mean he wasn’t talking to me.
The other day one of my daughters said to me. “The reason that I believe in God and the power of prayer is because I have boobs”. You heard me right but let me explain. My daughter was born with a condition called Poland’s Syndrome. Because of this she has an under formation especially of muscle on the right side of her body. The most noticeable thing about it is that her right hand and forearm are noticeably smaller that the left. When the doctor diagnosed it he said that in the future she might need breast surgery because it was very likely that one side would be considerably smaller than the other. Some might think this is silly but I went home and all I could think about was a young girl in gym class who would be noticeably different than the other girls. So I prayed “Please Lord, let that not be so”. Well not only was that not so but she was blessed in that area abundantly more than I thought to ask if you know that I mean. As a matter of fact nothing about her condition has held her back in any way. When she got old enough to have children we found out that her ovary on that side now and then skips releasing an egg. She has six children so that obviously is not a worry. Chickaboom, don’t you just love it when things happen like that? My daughter has experienced many, many times when the Lord has provided for her so that she often sees with her eyes of faith. She and I have had to rely many times on the help of the Lord as we work together to provide for her children without our husbands.
I could go on with hundreds, thousands of experiences. But this is a blog and not an epic novel. Suffice it to say that with the eyes of faith I recognize the face of the Lord in the crowd when others would not. I’m a believer.
Neil Diamond sang it. The Monkees sang it. Smashmouth and Donkey sang it.
With the eyes of faith I have seen His face. I’m a Believer, I couldn’t leave Him if I tried. Welcome to my Catholic Life. Love-Vic
Yesterday, I finally got to listen to a live Vericast podcast. I found Vericast a couple of weeks ago and have been checking out their videos and recordings of past shows. Vericast for those who don’t know is “the hardest-hitting Catholic podcast on [or off] the Internet.” For my readers who haven’t seen it you should check them out at Vericast.net. I’m sure they won’t mind if I give them some props and pass along where to find them. My readers who do know Vericast, well, you are already in the loop. Anyway, I finally catch a live show. I don’t enter into the chat although I do follow it. I usually lurk at first, I like to get the feel of people sometimes before I just jump in. I was a shy child. Most people don’t believe me when I tell them that. Well, there is nothing like being the mother of 6 children to knock the shy right out of you. You can’t be afraid of the dark, big storms, or the creepy noises outside. Or at least you can’t show it because all of those scared little faces are looking at you to make them feel better. You can’t be shy either because you have to step up. You have to have authority, you have to wear authority and you have to go out in the world and get them what they need. Uh oh, I hit went off on a tangent. I can do that sometimes. Let’s get back to my podcast experience. Near the end of the show I decide to call in, seems I couldn’t help myself. Next thing I know, I am “live on the air” which has only happened to me once before in my life. It seems that I must have been a little nervous because when I listen to it later I could hear the stutter I get sometimes. Otherwise I had a good conversation and they talked nice about me after we got off the phone. Looks like they didn’t really mind the stutter. Because I found Vericast, though, I also found their social network, Sheeoh which I joined today and expanded the boundaries of the Catholics in my life. The Lord seems to be opening new doors for me. What was that? God’s action in my life? Guess I found the tie in after all.
Recognizing God’s action in your life with the eyes of faith is just another way of saying that you have a relationship with him and can recognize when he is there. After awhile you realize that he is always there. That his love and action in your life, flows through your life all the time. We are able to recognize his face in the crowd of all the reasons of why or how. In the crowd of faces, of coincidence, luck, just the way things worked out, the stars aligning in our favor, etc, we recognize God’s face. So when something repeatedly comes into our life sometimes, others might say “that’s odd”; “I wonder what that means” or even “I think someone is trying to tell me something”. We already know who it is and will say “Lord, what are you trying to tell me, teach me, show me right now?” When provision comes at just the right time rather than thank our lucky stars, we recognize the God face in the crowd. When he strengthens us, comforts us, stands with us, carries us, teaches us, admonishes us though others may see differently we recognize him.
I could sit here and list all the ways God has made his presence known to me from the miraculous to the mundane. Tell you of the interior conversations that we have had. Tell you that during some of those conversations I know not only his presence but his posture and demeanor. Many times, though, even with the miraculous there could be reason to doubt. Maybe that was my imagination. Maybe I just needed to see it that way. Maybe I am just looney tunes. But by using the eyes of faith you just know better.
When I was around five, give or take, I had a dream. I was outside at night and I looked up at the moon. I could see Jesus in the moon. He looked like the picture of Jesus that hung on the wall of my grandmother’s bedroom. I looked around and everyone else was just going about their business as if nothing was going on. It was obvious that nobody else could see Jesus in the moon. Jesus was talking to me. I could see his lips moving but I couldn’t hear him. No matter how hard I tried I could not hear him with my ears. Now many would say that it was just a childish dream, not significant. Or that I had seen that picture at Grandma’s and it triggered a dream about Jesus. But here is the thing. It has been around fifty years and I still remember that dream. I can close my eyes and recall it. I have always been able to recall it. How many of you can recollect a dream from fifty years ago. Yeah, that’s what I thought. And the reason I couldn’t hear Jesus with my ears was that he wasn’t talking to my ears he was talking to my soul. I knew from then on that I would not always be able to hear Jesus with my ears but that didn’t mean he wasn’t talking to me.
The other day one of my daughters said to me. “The reason that I believe in God and the power of prayer is because I have boobs”. You heard me right but let me explain. My daughter was born with a condition called Poland’s Syndrome. Because of this she has an under formation especially of muscle on the right side of her body. The most noticeable thing about it is that her right hand and forearm are noticeably smaller that the left. When the doctor diagnosed it he said that in the future she might need breast surgery because it was very likely that one side would be considerably smaller than the other. Some might think this is silly but I went home and all I could think about was a young girl in gym class who would be noticeably different than the other girls. So I prayed “Please Lord, let that not be so”. Well not only was that not so but she was blessed in that area abundantly more than I thought to ask if you know that I mean. As a matter of fact nothing about her condition has held her back in any way. When she got old enough to have children we found out that her ovary on that side now and then skips releasing an egg. She has six children so that obviously is not a worry. Chickaboom, don’t you just love it when things happen like that? My daughter has experienced many, many times when the Lord has provided for her so that she often sees with her eyes of faith. She and I have had to rely many times on the help of the Lord as we work together to provide for her children without our husbands.
I could go on with hundreds, thousands of experiences. But this is a blog and not an epic novel. Suffice it to say that with the eyes of faith I recognize the face of the Lord in the crowd when others would not. I’m a believer.
Neil Diamond sang it. The Monkees sang it. Smashmouth and Donkey sang it.
I thought love was only true in fairy tales
Meant for someone else but not for me.
Love was out to get me
That's the way it seemed.
Disappointment haunted all my dreams.
Then I saw His face, now I'm a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind.
I'm in love, I'm a believer!
I couldn't leave Him if I tried.
I thought love was more or less a given thing,
Seems the more I gave the less I got.
What's the use in tryin'?
All you get is pain.
When I needed sunshine I got rain.
Then I saw His face, now I'm a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind.
I'm in love, I'm a believer!
I couldn't leave Him if I tried.
Meant for someone else but not for me.
Love was out to get me
That's the way it seemed.
Disappointment haunted all my dreams.
Then I saw His face, now I'm a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind.
I'm in love, I'm a believer!
I couldn't leave Him if I tried.
I thought love was more or less a given thing,
Seems the more I gave the less I got.
What's the use in tryin'?
All you get is pain.
When I needed sunshine I got rain.
Then I saw His face, now I'm a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind.
I'm in love, I'm a believer!
I couldn't leave Him if I tried.
With the eyes of faith I have seen His face. I’m a Believer, I couldn’t leave Him if I tried. Welcome to my Catholic Life. Love-Vic
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