When Joey decides to, he can see people with different eyes than the rest of us. Sometimes he sees their flaws; sometimes he sees features that blare beauty, sometimes he seems to be able see people's inner beings and desires.
He is blessed with the eyes of an artist.
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I had lunch with my brother Stan this week. Although I love him dearly we differ in many of our viewpoints of the world. Stan is a vehement unapologetic liberal and that's probably understating it. I referred to him as a socialist the other day and he said he was probably closer to a communist. I think he was only half kidding.
Stan sees the world far differently than I do. He sometimes sees a lot of organized cruelty and greed. He has a huge heart and sees great unfulfilled needs but he also sees a lot of people to blame.
Perhaps his are the eyes of an idealist.
Amy's brother Mike loves to delve into the inner workings of almost everything. He seeks understanding and knowledge. He has curious, inquisitive eyes.
His might be described occasionally as the eyes of pragmatist.
My friend Gordon can look at the sky for hours on end. He will marvel at the great wonders of creation, yet occasionally his vision is consumed by what he can't see.
These are the eyes of a stargazer.
I, on the other hand, often see the world in black and white. I rarely see conspiracies. I don't look to the stars very often or try to see the inner workings of things. I do at times consider myself observant and rational.
I suppose I have the eyes of a realist.
It would be easy to take these varied perspectives and paint thick impenetrable boundaries around them -lines of demarcation -dividing us from each other.
But that's not the case. I need only to remember to gaze through the eyes of another artist.
From the viewpoint of Christ the differences in our outlooks are relatively minor.
A vista void of distortion.
For he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens - Job 28:24
