SEEDS OF GROWTH by Pam
"GIVE ME EYES TO SEE MY EYES"
“GIVE ME EYES TO SEE MY EYES”
by G.K. Chesterton
Sunder me from my bones, O sword of God,
Till they stand stark and strange as do the trees;
That I whose heart goes up with the soaring woods
May marvel as much at these.
Sunder me from my blood that in the dark
I hear that red ancestral river run,
Like branching buried floods that find the sea
But never see the sun.
Give me miraculous eyes to see my eyes,
Those rolling mirrors made alive in me,
Terrible crystals more incredible
Than all the things they see.
Sunder me from my soul, that I may see
The sins like streaming wounds, the life's brave beat;
Till I shall save myself, as I would save
A stranger in the street.
This is but a tiny excerpt from a book by Dale AhlQuist called
THE COMPLETE THINKER, The Marvelous Mind of G.K. Chesterton.
While it's a difficult thing to take even a sentence out of the content of this book, as each compels a thirst for more in order to gain a true insight into this man's brilliant mind, allow me to dare quote the last paragraph from the chapter on Life and Death, leading to this wonderful poem.
“ It is a paradox that we can save the world by first saving ourselves, this is, by gaining a sense of wonder and gratitude that will infect everyone around us. With wonder and gratitude we can create a Culture of Life. And that is what Chesterton did. He made it his prayer that God would grant him the power to stand outside himself in order to see himself better. We can glory in God's creation as we look at the world around us, but to realize that God made us-this body, these hands, these eyes, this soul-is a profound truth far more difficult to grasp, a vision far more difficult to see. Chesterton's prayer was ‘give me eyes to see my eyes.' And he turned this prayer into a poem.”
G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) in my opinion as well as many others, was an absolute genius! The English author, journalist, novelist, philosopher, theologian and poet “…was one of the most prolific and well-known writers of his time, and one of the most widely quoted in our own.” Chesterton wrote on almost every subject one might imagine. “ Thinking, wrote Chesterton, ‘means connecting things.' ” “His ideas are not only connected to each other, they are also connected to us…” “In a world of increasing specialization, Chesterton connects us to the big picture by helping us see how the many and varied elements within our experience fit together…From east to west, from old to new. from politics to economics, from Shakespeare to Dickens---are woven together to create an illuminating whole.” He has published over a hundred works, including novels, short stories and poetry just for starters!
For those of you who are true “thinkers” who crave knowledge, understandings and insights with an open mind, For those of you who love words and how they affect our society, and if you are someone whose quest for the truth is unending, and if you are someone who is tired of authors who only know how to discuss the problems in our society without any answers, I highly recommend this book along with many others works by this great man!
For further information and/or discussion re: G.K. Chesterton, please don't hesitate to contact me here
Love,
Pam