The Second Gaze

This is a wonderful meditation from Richard Rohr for Thanksgiving Day. May your spiritual eyes be opened to the "second gaze," the perspective of deep gratitude, compassion, and peace that is rooted in God's gaze upon you.

Happy Thanksgiving. To reach the goal of compassion we must not stop with the first gaze. It is the second gaze that we struggle and wait for most of our lives. In the first half of life, we have a critical mind and a demanding heart and a lot of impatience. These characteristics are both gifts and curses, as you might expect. We cannot risk losing touch with either our angels or our demons. They are both good teachers. The trials of life invariably lead us to a second gaze. This is the gaze of compassion and patience. Now we look out at life from a place of Divine Intimacy where we are finally safe and at home. Only the second gaze sees fully and truthfully. The final surprise is that one’s supposed second gaze is actually God’s Eternal Gaze at you, which you have finally received like a long-awaited radio signal, and once you receive it, it just automatically bounces back to the Sender. Adapted from Contemplation in Action, pp. 19-20