Vision (Quotations for reflection)
Sunday 17 May 2026 - vision
Be Thou My Vision - Audrey Assad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Optrm7lF16s
"Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."
— Proverbs 29:18 (Tanakh)
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light."
— Matthew 6:22 (New Testament)
"Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives all vision; and He is the Subtle, the Acquainted."
— Surah Al-An'am [6:103] (The Qur'an)
"But you cannot see Me with your physical eyes. Therefore, I give you divine vision to behold My majestic power."
— Bhagavad Gita 11:8
"The eye of wisdom is the best of eyes; with it, one sees things as they truly are."
— Itivuttaka 3.51
"These eyes of mine were blind, but upon meeting the True Guru, they received divine vision."
— Guru Granth Sahib, Page 922
`"Can you wipe your inner mirror until you see nothing but the light?"
— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 10
Lord, I confess that I am often blind to my own condition, my own weaknesses and faults. I am asking You to open my eyes to be able to see myself as You see me. Take away my blind spots and remove my distorted view that keeps me from recognizing and admitting my own faults. Give me an obedient heart and a willing mind to change and become more like Your Son Jesus. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
https://www.heartlight.org/spiritualwarfare/en/0803/
“In a society blinded by appearance and prejudices that exclude its weakest, Jesus invites us to see people and things with the heart”, Pope Francis said on Saturday. He said the encounter with Jesus should encourage Christians to reject the culture of prejudice that marginalises the sick and disabled, and to embrace encounter and fraternity instead.
Reflecting on the healing of the blind man in the Gospel of John, chapter 9, the Pope noted that Jesus radically rejected the prejudices of those times concerning people born blind. Similarly, he said, today "we are used to perceiving only the outside of things, the most superficial aspect. Our culture states that people are worthy of interest only in terms of their physical appearance, their clothes, their beautiful homes, their luxury cars, their social position, their wealth." But the Gospel, he said, tells us another story.
Pope Francis went on to say that in giving sight to the blind man, Jesus shows that His heart "cannot remain indifferent to suffering," hence inviting us "to act immediately, to console, soothe and heal the wounds of our brothers."
He also called attention to the paradox of the blind man becoming able to see after meeting "the One who is the Light of the world" - and the many who, while meeting Jesus, remain blind. "This paradox very often runs through our own life and our ways of believing," he said.
Pope Francis then quoted from 'The Little Prince' who says: "One sees well only with the heart."
"Seeing with the heart is seeing the world and our brothers through God's gaze," he said, noting that "faith cannot be reduced to a series of theoretical beliefs, traditions, and customs. It is a bond and a path along which we follow Jesus, who renews our way of seeing the world and our brothers."
Pope Francis went on to stress that Christians "cannot be satisfied with being enlightened," as the Pharisees did: they must also be "witnesses of the light" as the blind man was. “We too are called to bear witness to Jesus in our life.”
Vatican News February 19th 2022
The essential nature of the two truths (relative or conventional truth and ultimate truth) is something that is present at all times, but we are unaware of it. Thus the vision in our mind does not attune to the actual nature of the reality in which we live. The purpose of the spiritual path is to bring about this attunement. When we follow a spiritual master who has realised the conventional and ultimate natures of existence, we place ourselves in a position of tremendous opportunity.
The Dalai Lama's commentary to the Selected works of the Dalai Lama III - Essence of Refined Gold.
My oldest sister was born with cataracts. She was legally blind from birth. When she was 15 months old, she got her first pair of tiny glasses with thick, heavy lenses. First thing in the morning, she would put them on. She refused to take them off until she was ready to sleep at night. The glasses didn’t give her 20/20 vision, but even at 20/400, it was a vast improvement.
Although she was bright intellectually, because of her poor eyesight she missed visual cues, and some of those things affected her social development. For example, she was never able to clearly see facial expressions. Gaps in understanding caused her to misunderstand situations, which sometimes created challenges for her and others.
Despite these challenges, she learned to play the piano and organ. She graduated from college with a degree in education, and for many years she has used her skills as a special education teacher to help struggling students. Her spiritual vision allowed her to see beyond her mortal limitations.
So how does this relate to us? Just as physical vision is important in this life, spiritual vision is critical in our quest for eternal life. Proverbs 29:18 tells us, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The truth is, we all need help learning to see clearly with our spiritual eyes.
“Catch the Vision, Share the Vision!” Jean B. Bingham, August 2019
It has been said that the doorways of history turn on small hinges, and so do people’s lives. We are constantly making small decisions. The outcome determines the success or failure of our lives. That is why it is worthwhile to look ahead, set a course, and at least be partly ready when the moment of decision comes. True finishers have the capacity to visualize their objective.
Vision without effort is daydreaming, effort without vision is drudgery; but vision, coupled with effort, will obtain the prize.
Thomas S Monson, “Finishers Wanted”, April 1972
O Man of Two Visions!
Close one eye and open the other. Close one to the world and all that is therein, and open the other to the hallowed beauty of the Beloved.
Baha’u’llah
O people of the world! The fruits of the tree of man are justice and fair-mindedness. Should he not be possessed of these fruits, he is fit but for the fire. Pride hath blinded both their outer and their inner vision. The world is in need of two things: order and justice.…
Bahá’u’lláh
O my God, my Master, the Goal of my desire! This, Thy servant, seeketh to sleep in the shelter of Thy mercy, and to repose beneath the canopy of Thy grace, imploring Thy care and Thy protection.
I beg of Thee, O my Lord, by Thine eye that sleepeth not, to guard mine eyes from beholding aught beside Thee. Strengthen, then, their vision that they may discern Thy signs, and behold the Horizon of Thy Revelation. Thou art He before the revelations of Whose omnipotence the quintessence of power hath trembled.
No God is there but Thee, the Almighty, the All-Subduing
, the Unconditioned.
Bahá’u’lláh - Prayers and Meditations