Quiet Eyes - The Rev. Brenda Sol

I invite you to try a little experiment, introduced to me by some teacher—in one training or another. Her assertion was that if you’re making the “Hmmm…” sound, as one does when they're being curious, that that vibration—“Hmmm…”—in your head, makes it hard to have a negative thought.

So try that out. Start making the “Hmmm…” sound, and, as you’re making it, prolong it a little. Just experiment. Can you be curious—“Hmmm…”—and think about something negative at the same time. [PAUSE] It's nearly impossible.

Listening and watching from a stance of curiosity shifts things. Similarly, in his role as author, theologian, and civil rights leader, Howard Thurman once suggested we ought to look at the world around us with “quiet eyes”. Thurman, who became a trusted spiritual mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr., used the term “quiet eyes” to describe a way of taking in a person—or situation—from the perspective of compassion. So, instead of watching for what’s wrong, or to gather more data to inform our anger and rage, we view the world through God’s eyes.

That calls us to practice being curious instead of judging others. When I try to move to a place of curiosity, I intentionally shift the judgmental thoughts I might be having, like: “this person is a complete idiot for believing these things,” by hearing the “Hmmm…” sound inside my head, as I think something more like, “I wonder if they have a different understanding of the situation than I do.”

While, we might hate to admit it, our personal judgments can, and do, contribute to an overall sense of divisiveness in our society, which, of course, has the potential to lead to violence. Curiosity and compassion, in contrast, are components on the path of nonviolence. And, tomorrow, we’ll honor the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., who was the epitome of someone on the path of nonviolence.

What’s important for us, as a faith community, is to remember is that MLK, Jr. didn’t base the principles of his movement simply on the facets of activism. His principles are based in a deep understanding of, and respect for, scripture. Inherently, MLK, Jr.’s principles of nonviolence point to the way of Jesus.

Which is also what John the Baptist is doing in this morning’s Gospel—pointing to the way of Jesus. John says, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John is communicating to the disciples, “You came when I called, and we did great work together, but here’s the real deal. This man—Jesus—is the one we’ve been waiting for. You can’t save yourselves. You can’t save each other. I can’t save you. Jesus is the one who saves.”

One of MLK, Jr.’s principles that, more explicitly, points to the way of Jesus is that suffering can be redemptive. That is to say, sacrificing to help others is a worthy endeavor. On the other hand, those principles insist there is no such thing as redemptive violence. MLK, Jr. and others argue that our suffering isn’t stopped by increasing the suffering of our opponents.

In the Gospel reading, I love what happens after Jesus is convinced this group is willing to sacrifice—to be transformed. John the Baptist has been talking with the disciples as they tag along after Jesus, when Jesus turns back to them, and responds to their questions with an invitation. “Come and see.” He doesn’t ask them to first take a test to see if they’re worthy of being disciples—because they’re not. He simply welcomes them in: “Come and see.”

A few months ago, the theologian and Franciscan priest, Richard Rohr, summarized MLK,  Jr.'s principles in one of his daily, online meditations (I recommend subscribing to them, by the way). One of the principles Rohr explained is that nonviolence is a way of strength. You see, nonviolence isn’t practiced out of a lack of power, but with the discovery of a different kind of power, based in choice and a way of being that is often countercultural.

Another principle of MLK, Jr.’s is that our opponents shouldn’t be seen as evil. Rather they ought to be viewed as a symbol of a much greater systemic evil. Furthermore, we ought to hold these folks with the understanding that they, too, are victims of those evil systems. 

An example of this, from the life of Jesus, is the time when Simon Peter cut off the ear of someone he considered to be an enemy of Jesus. And do you remember what Jesus did? Jesus rebuked Peter. Using Thurman’s words, Jesus might have pleaded with Peter to look at those, who were opposing them, with “quiet eyes”.

Just like the ways of Jesus, the nonviolent principles practiced by MLK, Jr. are built on the foundation of God’s love, which MLK, Jr. explains must be at the center of our whole lives. These ideas cannot be reserved for dealing with crucial moments of conflict. To be true disciples of Christ, we must practice nonviolence in our everyday thoughts, words, emotions, and actions—whether any of them be big or small.

As you’ve been hearing and reading about, and as Gigi mentioned in her sermon last week, over the next month, a Rector search committee will be formed. That group of eight or nine individuals—appointed by the vestry—will be given the holy responsibility of preparing materials to attract, then interview, and finally make a recommendation to the vestry about, the person to be called as your next rector.

The committee is being intentionally formed to represent the diverse voices and experiences of as many of you as possible. Together, the committee will practice these principles of nonviolence as they engage in a process of discernment. They’ll be reminded that, just because they think differently, or have had varied life experiences, they are not opponents. Because the goal of MLK, Jr.’s life was to win friendship and better understand others, versus trying to make someone wrong in the process—to look at each other through “quiet eyes”.

And, I want to invite all of you into these nonviolent practices as well. Because there are going to be moments of high anxiety as announcements are made about who the interim is, or why you can’t know more about who’s being interviewed for the rector position, or why we’re joining Bethlehem Lutheran for some of the Holy Week liturgies…you name it. And, in those moments, the tendency is to see things from an either/or perspective; to perceive possibilities as “all or nothing”; and to make assumptions about who’s in and who’s out.

But, we all must remember that our job, as Christians, is not to determine who’s in and who’s out. That’s God’s job. And God—particularly through the life of Jesus—says, “Everyone’s in. Come and see.”

Even though we seem to be socialized to show anger over vulnerability, and to think that violence happens only in the form of horrific acts, we are all guilty of what have been referred to as “micro aggressions”. We make snap judgments and assumptions based on surface information. Instead, Jesus asks us to look deeper and see the world with “quiet eyes”.

In that Richard Rohr meditation I mentioned, he wrote that MLK, Jr.’s principles of nonviolence are founded in “a cosmic optimism” which he describes as the:

“Trust that the universe/reality/God is finally and fully on the side of justice and truth. [That] History does have a direction, meaning, and purpose. [And that] God/good is more fundamental than evil. [And, lastly a trust that] Resurrection will have the final word.”

As you all lean into cosmic optimism in the weeks and months to come, you can experiment with being more curious and committing to better understand one and other—especially when someone seems really annoying. One of the teachings that has been key to my ministry was something I heard in a graduation sermon in seminary. The preacher said, “As a priest, you will basically have three jobs: to love them; to love them; and to love them.”

And that’s exactly what Jesus has called each of you to—to love the people that are easy to be around; to love the people who love you back; and, most importantly, to love the people you’re not sure you can love. Or, in the words of Howard Thurman, see them with “quiet eyes”.

-AMEN