“Wholesight”
“Many
of us live one-eyed lives. We rely largely on the eye of the mind to form our
image of reality. But today more and more of us are opening the other eye, the
eye of the heart, looking for realities to which the mind’s eye is blind.”
Parker
Palmer (To Know as We are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey, Introduction;
Harper San Francisco, 1983)
It’s
interesting, at least to me, that this theme of opening the heart’s eye keeps presenting
itself no matter where I look. Jung called it “synchronicity” when one note,
one theme, one idea keeps popping up in multiple places even though you aren’t
consciously looking for it. Chance encounters, or what some would call
coincidences, become related events. If there has ever been a time when we need
to stop relying on our mind’s eye—especially if it’s tuned in to social media
and biased news sources—and open our heart’s eye, this is it.
It’s
not that we need to shut the eyes of our mind, though in my opinion, some of us
already have—those who reject science and follow conspiracy theories have acquired
monovision. If anything, we need to strengthen our minds, and take time to
find out what is true and what is not. While seeing with the mind is important,
the interpretation of what we see must be processed through the heart if we’re
to have what Parker Palmer called “wholesight,” which is “a vision of the
world in which mind and heart unite.”
It has
become fashionable to have monovision—to loudly and proudly declare that life
is to be lived as each individual sees it. Not as a community, nor for the
greater good, but as “my way or the highway.” We will ban the books that offend
us with their truth, and we will put ridiculously configured boundaries around communities
to insure they have the least effect when it comes time to vote. We can pass
laws that discriminate against people of color and poor people, we can move
them out of their homes and neighborhoods in the name of progress, and we can
justify our actions simply by saying “elections have consequences.” That is
conscious monovision. That is shutting tight the eyes of the heart lest we experience
a moment of guilt.
Some of
us truly believe that the greater good is served by excluding whoever casts a
shadow on our own interpretation of reality. Believe that we are doing “them” a
favor and serving our community by maintaining control and keeping them out of sight.
We feel righteous banning books that “will make our children feel bad about
themselves.” We can tell ourselves that if our heart’s eyes are shut tight, and
we are seeing only with our self-serving minds. But the second empathy pries
open the steel trap we’ve set upon our hearts, we will realize how many
children of black, brown, and poor people have “felt bad about themselves”
for as long as they have been alive. And that no one likes to live on the
streets—even if we give them a colorful tent.
Having “wholesight”
would allow us to see what is true, and what is real. And seeing what is real,
we might loosen our grip on controlling the narrative—and then all God’s
children could enter the kingdom with joy and thanksgiving. And then our hearts would heal, and our land would rejoice in its freedom. Isn’t that what we want?
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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