Bright Eyes

When someone is depressed, it is normally projected by what is called a "sad affect."  There face looks sad and, in particular, their eyes look dull.  I have never encountered a depressed person with bright eyes, eye upon which light dances.

The dullness comes from a diminished feeling of hope, a loss of the adventurous spirit, an inability to see wonder and excitement.  The eyes are dimmed by the darkness they see in the world around them, in their personal circumstances, in their daily grind.  Light cannot dance as it is absorbed in the black hole of the depressed spirit.

Too often the patients I see have these dull eyes, framed by a sad affect.  My hope is to help bring some light into them, to inspire a feeling of hope, to awaken the spirit of adventure, pointing out a reason for wonder.

I try to share with each of my patients the vision of Christ - a vision that dismisses the darkness and embraces the light:"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you" (Lk 11:34-36).

Our Lord tells us that light and darkness abound in the world around us.  We get to choose which we focus our eyes on.  If we focus on the good (light) things, our whole being is brightened.  If we focus on the dark (bad) things, our whole being is dampened.  We get to choose what we fill our spirit with and therefore whether we have bright eyes or a sad affect, whether we have a spirit that rejoices or retreats.

My mother used to say, "If you think you have it bad, just look around.  You'll find others who have it so much worse."  She was trying to help us internalize the message of the hymn "Count Your Many Blessings."  There are always blessings to count, just as there are losses to tally.  Which we choose to focus on and thereby set the tone of our lives, is up to us.

The apostle Paul urged us, "Rejoice always and again, I will say rejoice!" (Phil 4:4).  Abraham Lincoln, in agreement with Paul said, "A man will be just about as happy as he determines to be."  Jesus said to open our eyes to the wonder of God about us - choose to have bright eyes.  He reminds us that truly "This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it!" (Ps 118:24).  Jus' Say'n.