To help our fellow human beings, we must have a clear eye. We will be able to be truly useful to others when our eye looks into them and sees only what is good and beautiful. To look at someone with clean eyes means to see in him the image of God. If we do not see the beauty that is in our fellows, we will not help them or ourselves. What we see in others shows what is in us. If our minds and souls are pure, we will see the beauty in our neighbor.
If our inner eye is dirty, we will only see the flaws, vices and wickedness of others. We cannot help others when we see in them what is bad, wrong, ugly or distorted in them. Metropolitan Antonie de Suroj gives us the example of the Lord, Who looked at people with gentle and loving eyes. “Christ looked at everyone he met – the prostitute, the thief – and saw the beauty hidden there.” Even though it was distorted, the Savior saw it and “cried out” this beauty.
Even though she was distorted, the Savior saw her and “cried out” this beauty. Even though His image in man is corrupt and defamed, God seeks this beauty and wants to reveal it. Just as God sees and seeks in us only what is good, so we must behave toward our fellow men. Our good eye will know how to overcome the other’s weaknesses and will cover his mistakes. Only through love, patience, indulgence and gentleness will we be able to help him to rise, to come to his senses and to recover his soul.
God seeks in the heart of man, not in his outward appearance or gestures. And even though wickedness and ugliness have settled in his heart, God seeks at all costs to reveal goodness and beauty. Our love must not be hindered by the unpleasant appearance of our fellow men, nor by their insulting words or their repulsive attitude. The Savior did not reject the publicans, nor the fornicators, nor the evildoers, nor the murderers. He did not abhor them, but even touched them. No matter how hard he falls, man can never lose the image of God with which he has been endowed, unless he refuses God’s repentance and help and falls completely in love.