| Of coordinated hearts and eyes |

I tend to distance myself from mounting excitement. When I think about an exciting day or event in the future, I start to get that jittery feeling and I can't sleep very well. I convince myself that Christmas Eve is just another night, so that maybe I might be able to sleep before Christmas arrives. Well, the mounting excitement has amassed an army and it has sieged my defenses. I am excited about going to Czech Republic!

I'm actually too excited. I can't focus. I am supposed to be studying for a midterm that I'm to take tomorrow, or writing a paper that is due on Friday, but instead I'm playing my guitar and writing a song. I even tried having a cold shower to snap out of it, perhaps to refocus myself, but that simply amounted to an intriguing concept: heart-eye coordination.

You see, I'm a sports enthusiast. Hand-eye coordination is a very important skill in the game of hockey, for example. Prior to my floor hockey games, I spend more time juggling the ball around on my stick than I do stretching or shooting. For me, the skills will follow if my hand-eye coordination is good. And so I wonder about the idea of heart-eye coordination. Perhaps it stems from a Bill Hybels concept, a holy discontent. For Hybels, this is the thing that breaks your heart and causes you to act on it. It's different than a passion or a life-goal; it's a God-given, innate heartbeat for an issue or an injustice that you simply must try to remedy.

I wonder if having our hearts and our eyes coordinated in unison, if we would truly see the things that break God's heart, and then act on them. Perhaps when we walk downtown and we a homeless guy asking for money, instead of walking past and making an excuse in our head, our eyes would be so in tune with our heart that we would be moved to stop and to act.

Just like in the game of hockey, if our hand-eye coordination is good, the necessary skills will follow, so too if our heart-eye coordination is good, we will reach out and we will act upon injustice.

So God, I've been working through checklists, and I've been intricately packing everything I need. But what I really need is for my heart to respond to what You're going to show me. Give me eyes to see all it is You want.

As Bright As You'll Make Me

Written by Steve Coupland on February 16, 2011

Verse

Give me eyes to see all it is You want

And may my heart beat ever after You

And may my reservations slip away

And all these hindrances hide their face

For my light has come and going forth to shine

Refrain

I will follow

Where You will lead me

For Your glory

I will rise up

As bright as You’ll make me

I’ll be light to Your world

Verse

Give me empathy for those who break Your heart

Lend me strength to lift up those who’ve fallen down

And may apathy break beneath

The overwhelming love You breathe

For my light has come and You’re sending me to shine