See with New Eyes as the Holy Spirit Helps You Shift Perspective
God's Spirit rearranges our experiences into something unexpectedly sacred
Have you ever looked at a situation from every angle and still felt stuck? Maybe it’s a decision entangled with fear, a lingering, unnamed, deep ache that continues to have squatting rights deep within, or a relationship worn thin from silent sorrow. Have you ever thought about the fact that sometimes what we need is less analysis or effort, and instead we need to see the situation with new eyes? Maybe what we need is a sacred tilt or a new outlook, so that our perspective shifts.
It made me think about this quote by Celeste Snowber Schroeder from her book, In the Womb of God: Creative Nurturing for the Soul.
“My friend has a kaleidoscope she sometimes uses in her counseling practice. She invites her client to look through the kaleidoscope to catch a new perspective. God’s Spirit within us is like this kaleidoscope; we need to be attentive to it so we can be transformed with new eyes.”
I happen to love kaleidoscopes. I’m not sure why, but when I read this, I wondered if I have walked through life constantly trying to see things differently, not because I want to be rebellious, but because I am a curious sort. In my journey with the Spirit, I’ve come to learn that it isn’t just an exercise in optics but a metaphor for how the Spirit moves.
Whisper of Wonders and Divine Spirit, turn the lens of my soul.
Where my perspective and vision are narrow, widen it,
If there are places where I cling to the darkness, let Your Light bend and scatter it,
Let me be surprised by the surrounding beauty, especially in things or places I have overlooked.
Give me the courage to see with new eyes,
To loosen my grip of certainty,
Allowing mystery to show the way,
And shape me by the colors of grace
As your love rearranges me from the inside out.
May it be so.
The sacred shift of perspective
Could it be that the Spirit is constantly moving, turning gently, like a kaleidoscope, inviting us to see with new eyes? It can transform what we think we know, without discarding our broken pieces. It’s a cool concept, if you think about it. Instead of throwing our brokenness away, it rearranges it, casting new light on it so we can see those familiar forms with new eyes and a new perspective.
Here’s the deal, though. This rearranging means there needs to be some awareness. It becomes an invitation to see again. It’s not about using logic but seeing with the eyes of your soul. How do you do that, you ask?
By letting go of rigid thinking. By thinking outside the box. By allowing compassion, color, and complexity, shift your perspective so you can see new patterns of grace.
A time when the Light shifted my perspective
When I was just out of college and making my way in the world as a young adult, my best friend from high school and I thought it was a great idea to get a place together. All was going well until it didn’t.
It wasn’t that we had a falling out, but instead of spending more time together, we began to spend less time together, each of us getting caught up in our own busy lives.
When we would have time together, there was more silence, and that silence began to grow until we realized we had each become very different people who wouldn’t necessarily choose each other as friends. I’ve never been in a situation like that, and I hope I never am again.
Walking away from that, I kept replaying conversations in my head, asking myself what went wrong? As I journaled one morning, I was sitting at a familiar spot where the sun would shine through the window. That morning, I had a glass of water sitting next to me. As the light hit the glass and water, a rainbow of colors scattered across my white page. I stopped for a second, looking at the beauty. It reminded me of a kaleidoscope, creating new colors.
I realized that we were probably both a little hurt. That moment didn’t necessarily change what happened, but it shifted my perspective. The kaleidoscope of scattered colors helped me see with new eyes.
Have you ever had something similar happen to you?
Maybe there is a situation in your life where you feel stuck. Take a moment to think about it and how you got there.
How might the Spirit be inviting you to shift your perspective and see with new eyes?
What new colors do you see, and how might that help you in your healing or reconciliation, or merely just to shift your perspective?
I open my heart to new ways of seeing so that I can be transformed.
Sacred pauses: Before reacting or judging something or someone, take a deep breath and whisper this breath prayer, “Spirit, show me what I cannot see.” Taking a short pause can open sacred space.
Visual prayer: In a way, this is a form of visio divina. Using a kaleidoscope, crystal, or glass prism where you sit to journal or pray, gaze through it as a form of visual meditation. Allow your eyes to see new things, and your perspective shift.
Write from a different perspective: Using a current challenge, journal about it, but write from the perspective of the other person, or let your future self look back at your current situation with grace and wisdom.
May your eyes be blessed with wonder,
And your heart open to all that lies beyond the visible.
When your path narrows, may the Spirit tilt the lens
And show you the way through shifting light and hidden grace.
May every broken shard be gathered and transformed,
Into a mosaic of your becoming
And may you never forget,
There is always more. There is always beauty, and there is always God in the tilting of the lens.
Hold up the kaleidoscope. Let the Spirit tilt the lens.
See again, and be renewed.
May you know that you are loved because you matter.
May your soul be refreshed.
sdg