17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. (Ephesians 1:17-19)

I’m sitting in my office, about to officiate a funeral of a young man, and I’m reminded of a phrase from my ever-favorite, Glennon Melton.  It’s time for some perspectacles.  I think it’s easy to get caught up in the negatives, the bad things that are happening, in the world and in our own lives.  Honestly, it’s sometimes hard NOT to get caught up in the bad stuff.
But then I come in to church and prepare to do a funeral for a 44 year old young man.
And I gain some perspective.
AND I am reminded once again (by Sue today, in fact) that every day is a gift.
Bad news and all. 

I think this is what Paul is talking about in this Ephesians text.
Paul is praying for us to have our eyes opened, and not our physical eyes, but the “eyes of your heart.”
You might not have known this before now, but you have regular eyes (the ones on your face) and heart eyes.
Heart eyes are different, because they see different things.
Physical eyes see nature and people and news, but heart eyes, they see HOPE.
When God is present in our lives, when God makes himself known to us, our heart is opened and though we see the same bad things, we see them in a different way.  Those are perspectacles.

We talk a lot in Advent about Christ coming into the world and breaking into the darkness with light.
That darkness is everywhere, including our own heart eyes.
It’s time for some perspectacles people.
It’s time to open the eyes of our hearts today and see the power of God’s greatness in the world around us, and within us.

Light is breaking in.
Heart eyes are opening.
Hope is peeking out.  

AMEN