Standing eyelash to eyelash with God (Nick Senz)

  The Latin word for eyelash is cilia. If you were so close as to have your eyelashes with theirs (with being cum- or con- in Latin), you'd be con-cilia.  And if you were once that close, but had drifted apart and then returned again (again being re- in Latin), you would be re-con-cilia -- you would be reconciled.  

  This one word, with its hidden metaphor, succinctly summarizes salvation history.  In the beginning, human beings shared a great closeness with God.  In their innocence, Adam and Eve stood uncovered before God, not needing to hide anything.  God walked with them in the garden in the cool of evening, like you might do with an old friend after a big dinner.

  But we separated ourselves from God by our pride; we withdrew from that closeness, that intimacy, by wanting to change the nature of the relationship, by trying to be equal to God…

  But God loved us and wanted us back.  God wanted us to be able to look Him in the eye again.  So He came among us as one of us, like to us in all things but sin – he had arms and legs and hands and feet, a heart and a mind… and eyelashes.  Jesus came to sinners, to the afflicted, to the poor, and stood eye to eye with them and said, Your sins are forgiven you…

  God made us for closeness such as this with Himself… God made us so that we could one day be face to face with Him—even eyelash to eyelash. God wants nothing more than to hold us and say, I love you.  May He grant us the grace not to squirm, but to coo with delight, and nuzzle the nose of our Father.

--Nick Senz, 

former Director of Religious Ed, OLMC, 

Director of Faith Formation,
St. Vincent de Paul Church, Arlington, TX

To read Nick’s complete – and wonderful! – post on reconciliation, click here.

Image source:  O. Korolev, The Prodigal Son, available at Saatchi Art, https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Prodigal-Son/5418/739134/view 

Quotation source