Recently, I was on a ten-mile morning run on the trails in Case Mountain Woods. As I was navigating the twists and turns, the rocks and obstacles, the steep climbs and the sudden drops, I felt clunky, rickety and sluggish. And as often happens when I’m on a solo run, my mind started to drift to thoughts of the last week, priorities ahead, a little bit of prayer—and then a song popped into my head: “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel. Now, just to date myself a bit, this song was a huge hit when I was in high school. If you’ve ever seen the Cameron Crow film: Say Anything, you’ll recall the part when the main character, Lloyd, played by a young John Cusack (wearing a Clash T Shirt and a trench coat) played this song from a boombox beneath the window of Diane, the valedictorian, the love who he’s trying to win back.

Here are some of the lyrics from that song:

Love, I get so lost sometimes

Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart

But whichever way I go

I come back to the place you are

All my instincts, they return

The grand façade, so soon will burn

Without a noise, without my pride

I reach out from the inside

In your eyes—The light – the heat

In your eyes—I am complete

In your eyes—I see the doorway to a thousand churches

In your eyes—The resolution of all the fruitless searches

In your eyes

Truth be told I never cared for the song, but it really struck a chord with me that morning, halfway through this semi-mediocre run. I became keenly aware that I was in God’s presence. In God’s eyes. In yesterday’s gospel reading, we heard the words from John 3:16, that: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but have eternal life.” This is the core of our Christian faith. This is the kerygma that has been entrusted to us so that it could be proclaimed with joy to every person. God so loved the world: not just a specific group of people or nation; not just the good people: not just when we’re on top of our game or feeling particularly healthy or whole or holy. God loves every single one of us in a unique way, according to who we are and who God created us to be. What would it be like to really embrace that truth—to run with it—and to bear witness to it for others in every aspect of our lives? 

I invite you to take a moment to live in the reality that God loves you, intensely. In every waking moment, in every stride through life, remember that you are:

In God’s eyes—in who’s light and heat you are complete; 

In God’s eyes—see the doorway to a thousand churches;

In God’s eyes—the resolution to all the fruitless searches.

In God’s eyes.