The Little Man of the Eye

Biblically, this is the Hebrew translation of "apple of his eye" in Deuteronomy 32:

"10 In a desert land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft."

Literally, this "little man" is the tiny reflection of yourself in the glassy surface another person's eyes.

Amidst a flurry of Old Testament stories, this phrase caught my attention and stuck in a way that few things do. Because it makes so. much. sense.

When you recognize the little man in the eye, you are seeing a piece if yourself in the other - friend or enemy. In other words, their humanity is as evident as your own, and you become equals.

This level viewpoint allows a whole new window to open: empathy. You can see the shortcomings of being human. You can see the pain that inevitably comes from living in a fallen world, the times when someone broke their trust, the simple things that they have had to fight tooth and nail for. But you can also see the honest attempt at a good life and the need to be loved. How do you see these things in their eyes? Because they are in you too.

One crucial part of the phrase is the eyes themselves, because in order for you see them, you must look. Well duh. Think about it, though. Eye contact cannot happen when you look down on someone lower than you. It cannot happen when you are miles away from each other. It cannot happen through walls. In the same way, you cannot see the little man of the eye if you are overpowering someone, emotionally separated, or ignoring them.

In order to see some one's eyes, you must be on the same level as them, face to face, and you have to choose to look - literally and metaphorically.

So what does this mean? Well, for one, if you take the time to realize that we are all just dust and spit, you will see the value in every person, and you will see the narrative of humanity in their eyes - just as they can see it in yours. If we all did this, the world might be a more peaceful, loving place.

When God sees the little man in our eyes, He sees His image in us, just as He created. He feels the pain and doubt and joy of every one of His children as though it were fully His own, and protects us as such.

The kicker? This is how He always sees us: with a tiny image of Him in our eyes.