Waking eyes and hearts to life.

I was listening to the song Lover of the Light by Mumford and sons, and I heard this line: "Flawed by pride, I miss my sanguine eyes..."

I cannot get sanguine eyes out of my mind. Then I looked up the word "sanguine" in the dictionary and thesaurus and I started to understand why. It has a different meaning in the noun and adjective forms, respectively. As a noun, it means blood-red, ruddy, and consisting of or relating to blood. As an adjective, it means hopeful, cheerfully optimistic, confident, and a mind free from doubt.

I thought this was a crazy and amazing contrast. I'm not quite sure what he means by it in the song, but here is my interpretation of the phrase. One of the first things I thought of while reading through the definitions was this verse in Mark 10:21: "Jesus looked at him and loved him." Dang! Jesus loved him just by looking at him. Eye contact is powerful...but how could Jesus love someone by looking at them?

"Blood-red"...Jesus' blood is what saves and purifies us. He is the crimson stain that makes us white as snow. John 19:34 says, "One of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side, bringing a sudden flow of blood."

"Cheerfully-optimistic, confident"...Hope. Jesus is the only answer and the only hope amidst this mess. Not a questionable hope, but an assured hope. Colossians 1:27 says, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Titus 2:13 says, "As we wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." He is already in us, but he is coming back.

That verse in Mark 10 gives me the chills every time I read it. Why? Because Jesus looked at me and loved me. He does the same with all his children. Jesus is the one with sanguine eyes. Blood-red because his blood purified us, and he only sees beauty in us. Cheerful optimism because he is the hope that has already come and is yet to come.

In Genesis 16:13, a girl who has been shunned and demeaned by everyone else knows that she is loved by the Lord and says, "I have now seen the One who sees me." And I don't think it's 'random' that in Hebrews 12:2 we are told to "fix our eyes on Jesus..." When he makes eye contact with you he changes your life because, for the first time ever, you know who you are in the eyes of the only One who knows you.

Eyes that have looked down from the cross. Eyes that look through me. Eyes that took the punishment, yet bring the freedom. Eyes that are soft but relentless. Eyes that see me.

Blood. Hope. Sanguine eyes.