YES, love has eyes, eyes that see things very sharply, eyes that see things that others do not see. That is why people in love are often accused of being blind, a blindness that actually has perfect vision, while those who say they can see yet have no love, are those who are truly blind.
Christ describes this phenomenon this way: “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.†(Jn 9,39): These definitely are very intriguing words that can only be understood if the inputs of faith are made.
Those who are in love with the love of God have eyes that see the minutest details of things. In fact, they have eyes that can discover more things than what those with normal eyes can. They see things beyond the physical and material. They can see spiritual forces and play and blend with them.
The eyes of love are not isolated organs, operating on their own. They are organically linked to the other senses and organs. What the eyes of love see trigger our other organs and parts into action. What the eyes see, the other organs act out.
More than that, the eyes of love are not merely physical or biological organs, ruled simply by natural impulses. They are vitally connected with the original source of love, God himself.
They are eyes that also are spiritual and that function at the instance of right reason, and of faith, hope and charity. In a sense, we can call them the theological eyes of love. They become the windows of our heart and soul. Through them we can see what’s inside our heart and soul. Try looking at the eyes of holy people, like St. John Paul II.
They see things spiritual and supernatural. Their standard of goodness, pleasantness and beauty is not simply of the physical kind, or of the merely natural, social, cultural kind, etc. What may be considered ugly and messy in these latter categories may still be considered attractive to the theological eyes of love.
These theological eyes of love function at the instance of the love of God that is universal and full of wisdom, understanding, mercy and compassion. They see things according to the moral law of God. They get to see things in their ultimate perspective.
That is why they can manage to see beauty in suffering, in trials and temporary setbacks, etc. They can see the final victory of those who persevere with God’s will and ways even if these involve crosses.
More than that, these eyes get to see God in everyone and everything, irrespective of their condition and situation. In fact, God is what they primarily see, because they see first the Creator in every creature before any other consideration is made.
This is how lovers behave. How many love songs romanticize their love by saying, for example, that they see their beloved in every flower they encounter? “I am looking at the moon, but I am seeing you,†goes another song soaked with the passionate sentiments of love.
We need to develop these theological eyes of love. We have to train our vision to go beyond the physical and natural laws, and to acquire the power of the spiritual and supernatural laws of God.
This will take time and effort, of course. But even before these, developing these theological eyes of love would require a lot of prayer and sacrifice. We need to beg God to give us this kind of eyes.
He, for sure, will grant us this request, because in the first place these theological eyes of love are what he wants us to have. He wants us to see everyone and everything the way he sees them, since we are his image and likeness, and adopted children of his. This request will never be too much to ask and to aspire.
But, yes, we have to give our all in cultivating these eyes. We have to be completely identified with the doctrine of our faith, and then little by little, with the steadiness of someone truly in love, we have to develop the virtues that would liken us to God through Christ in the Holy Spirit.
There will be the usual awkward stage of the learning curve, but if we persist, we will soon find out that having this theological eyes of love can become second nature to us.
With them we can manage to be calm and confident in all instances, in fair weather or foul, with friends of with foes. (By Fr. Roy Cimagala)