Back in 1991, a gentleman named Tom Baccei published a book that featured pages and pages of apparently weird and puzzling pictures in multicolor and titled the book “Your Eyesight Gets Better & Better in a Very Short Rate of Time: Magic Eye”. Within a few weeks, this Japanese book became a best seller, and he then published a second book soon after that.
The ‘magic’ thing about these prints is that at first glance, you only see a random composite of colors and tend not to make much of it. But only when you look at these pictures at length, and shift your gaze and focal point to allow the colored dots be rearranged, do we shift the focus and allow ourselves to be moved into the picture, we will be able to see a whole new dimension of the composite of dots and shapes, and a totally new image appears as if out of magic and it astounds the viewer. I remember being captivated by these images when I was in my early secondary school days, going to the MPH bookstore in Armenian Street, just a short walk from SJI where I was studying, and loved viewing the prints of those magic eye posters.
In my scripture and theology studies in the seminary, I learnt how important it is to allow the numerous stories in the bible to reveal deeper levels of importance and beauty. It is only when we take the time and effort to sit with the stories and let the images speak to us in deeper ways will we uncover the depths and gems that await those who take the time to appreciate the beauty that exists inside of those images and stories.
Many things in life need to be handled with same endurance and patience as well. In our Christian tradition, we have the language of scripture, we have creeds, and most definitely, we have our dogmas, and so many of us struggle to not just understand them, but to explain them to others. In order to get to its crux and depth, we need to sit with these for a time, and let them speak to us in ways that only they can. And when we do that, then just like looking at the magic eye prints, their depth and beauty becomes not just real but also compelling and enchanting to us.
People who have lost friends or relatives in death ought to do a lot of this as well. At funeral wakes, it will be not just sentimental but wise to take a chair and sit alone in front of the casket of the deceased, and ruminate about how that person was so alive and live-giving to you when their hearts were healthy and pumping blood through their veins. When we do that, the power of their lives will become more real and beautiful to us, and that is because we allowed our magic eye to be opened in a new way. Sometimes, the dead speak much louder and clearer to us than when they were alive.
Patience is a virtue, and we must never forget this. Your patience in reading this blog entry required patience, and I hope it has paid off richly. God bless you as you cultivate the virtue of patience in your life, and may your magic eye see the wonders that God promises us we will see when we enter through the gates of heaven.
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