Eyes Without a Face
Early in the pandemic, whenever I wore my mask at the grocery store, the words to a Billy Idol tune immediately came to mind. Bagging my asparagus, I couldn’t help but hum “Eyes Without a Face.”
Over the last few months, I have thought of that song at every store I have been to. (Admittedly, I sing rather than hum, which is beside the point.) Although I love 80s music, specifically that song, something else sparked the lyrics.
When mask restrictions are in place, we may be invited to a more profound way of seeing one another. Like most things, we may be offered a more truthful way of seeing ourselves and others when we face limitations.
They say that eyes are the window to the soul. Over the last 9 months, I can’t help but be struck with the eyes of others. The eyes that smile. The eyes that seem to be afraid. The sad eyes. The eyes full of joy. In some ways, by covering our faces, we can see one another more clearly. By forcing one another to make eye contact, in this case, out of duty, we offer one another our souls.
What a gift.
Over the past year or so, the soul of the United States has also been exposed. Virtually every strength and weakness has been revealed for the world to see. Healing and peace can only be attainable if we are honest about this reality. How can there be healing if we don’t know that there is healing to be done?
To be vulnerable as a person or a country is a scary place to be. That said, paradoxically, the strength that we seek is found precisely in and through our weaknesses. To neglect the open wounds would be to forgo the process of peace. At the end of the day, what we all yearn for is to see, be seen, know, and be known as we are.
Sometimes, it is through our limitations that we discover a deep insight (eyes without a face). Sometimes, through the cracks in what we thought our country and culture was, we can once again strive to be a beacon of light for the world.
Limitations and cracks can be a grace-filled opportunity for peace.
They say that all politics is local. If that is true, we can begin to heal as a country when we hum Billy Idol together as we walk the grocery store aisles. As we pick out our bread and milk, we are invited to look into the eyes and, thus, the souls of our fellow neighbors.
Let the healing begin.
Brett Illig
In search of the good, the true, and the beautiful. Here are some moments along the way.
12 Comments
Tony Ciaverelli
We should use the eyes as an entrance to the heart. Once the hearts of men and women are exposed then the healing can truly begin.
Brett Illig
Amen Tony. Here is to the courage to be open to heal.
Cecilia
Love that song too! Thank you for this beautiful reflection and revelation. Wishing you peace in 2021!
Brett Illig
Thank you Ceil, happy and peace filled New Year to you and your family.
Ann
Hi Brett,
Love this Post!! When you say “Sometimes it is through our limitations that we discover a deep insight (eyes without a face). Sometimes, through the cracks in what we thought our country and culture was, we can once again strive to be a beacon of light for the world” it brought back the memory of one of my all time favorite book passages! Thanks for the memory!
“Each of us starts as a watertight vessel. and then things happen – people leave us or don’t love us, or don’t get us, or we don’t get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack open in places. And I mean, yeah, once the vessel cracks open, the end becomes inevitable. But there is all this time between when the cracks start to open up and we finally fall apart. And it’s only in that time that we can see one another, because we see out of ourselves through our cracks and into others through theirs. When did we see each other face to face? Not until you saw into my cracks and I saw into yours. Once the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out.”
John Green – Paper Towns
Looking forward to your podcast!
Brett Illig
Thank you Ann…Wow, I love that passage from the book. So much truth and wisdom, thank you for sharing. And thank God for our cracks!!
Karen Hartman
Love this song and your thoughts. Thanks for sharing.
Happy New Year to you and your family!
Brett Illig
Thank you Karen, Happy New Year.
Deborah Bohr Violette
Beautiful insight Brett. We can all benefit from remembering and practicing what truly is a simple but kind gesture.
Brett Illig
Thank You. I hope that you and your family are well.
Daniel Oester
Hi Brett – love your blog and love your openness to share your thoughts with us. I wish you, your family members, the people of your community, of your state and of your country the wisdom needed to have a good start with the healing process which hopefully will be a successful and sustainable one. As an “outsider” I don’t want to judge what has happened in your country but one thing is for sure: For me the US have been and still are the “natural” leader of this fantastic planet. A weak USA has at the end a negative impact to Europe and the entire western culture.
The ones who are blaming the former president for what has happened do in my opinion not understand the dynamics behind this development which has probably started already 10 – 15 years ago. My preferred newspaper wrote this morning: The fire breathing dragon has gone – but the reasons why he was there have not gone! The development that we have seen in your country is actually something we can see also in Europe for many years already. Nationalism (and I mean the “negative” nationalism) is coming back. People with dubious reputation are elected in important positions – exactly for the same reasons as Mr former president Trump was elected 4 years ago. Maybe your country is just ahead of what may potentially also happen in Europe – let’s hope that I’m wrong!
Greetings from Switzerland, Daniel
Brett Illig
Salut Daniel, thank you so much for your comments. We miss all of you and Switzerland every day. As for your thoughts, I couldn’t agree with you more. There seems to have been a shift towards the “negative” aspects of nationalism that has slowly been building for years. That said, I do believe the violence from a few weeks ago at the US Capital has caused many Americans to take a pause and look at ourselves and thus the world in a new way. Hopefully this will be part of the healing process. Stay healthy and well in Switzerland.