Sabbath Devotional :: An Eye of Faith

Painting by Romare Bearden (1911-1988): “Martin Luther King – Mountain Top” 1968.
c: Romare Bearden Foundation

For several decades the orchestra conductor Benjamin Zander has taught music to young people in various youth conservatories. On the first day of class he makes a promise and a request to his students: “Your grade for the year is an A with this condition: write me a letter in the first two weeks of the course, dated at the end of the year saying “Dear Mr. Zander, I got my A because _____,” outlining what you will be doing by then. Then fall in love with and believe that person.” He asks the students to behave as though they already have an A and trust the process from there. Zander reports in his book “The Art of Possibility” that, by the end of the course, each student has transformed their relationship to their instrument, their teacher, and themselves.

Zander’s teaching philosophy is similar to the “eye of faith” described in the scriptures, a concept that invites us to look forward using our spiritual imagination to live as though the Lord’s promises have already been fulfilled in our lives.

Did you know that the phrase “eye of faith” is only found scripturally in the Book of Mormon? Read, for example, these wonderful verses:

Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality? Can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord saying unto you, in that day, “come unto me ye blessed”?”Alma 5:15-16

And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad” (Moroni on the people of the Book of Mormon, Ether 12:19).

According to these passages, we can each use our spiritual imagination to take an eye of faith approach — to live as though heaven is here, as though we’ve already received the “A” grade of eternal life, as though we and our neighbors have already received forgiveness and grace for our errors. It allows us to incrementally live into and embrace possibilities rather than live up to heavy expectations.

The reason we can have the confidence in our eye of faith is because of Christ’s infinite and eternal atonement. Christ has already atoned for our shortcomings and provided the means for our transformation and blessings both here and now and eternally. Through this mindset, I’m better able to draw upon the blessings of heaven, bit by bit.

Developing an eye of faith helps me seek and expect spiritual experiences to help me become the person Christ has promised me I can be. Michelangelo famously said of his creations: “in every block of stone is a beautiful statue. I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” Christ sees us with this same vision and, by developing an eye of faith, we can both get a glimpse of what we can be and also access the means through Christ for becoming.

We can use the eye of faith in how we think of and treat others. Several years ago in Relief Society we were discussing loneliness and belonging. One sister said something that’s stuck with me: “I just assume everyone wants to be my friend and treat them like they already are.” What an eye of faith approach to seeing and loving others!

We can use an eye of faith daily to spiritually create the day ahead. Elder Bednar talks about our prayers being creative processes at the beginning of the day: He quotes Moses 3:4-5 For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth.” Bednar notes that “the spiritual creation preceded the temporal creation. In a similar way, meaningful morning prayer is an important element in the spiritual creation of each day — and precedes the temporal creation or the actual execution of the day.” This feels closely aligned with the spiritual imagination of an eye of faith: to create the day spiritually through living as though the blessings we seek are already ours.

We can invoke an eye of faith to access bravery and peace in difficult times. The night before Martin Luther King was killed, he famously spoke these words that convey an eye of faith mindset:

“We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life — longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And so I’m happy tonight; I’m not worried about anything; I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”

Forgive me this speculation: At the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, there’s a display of King’s actual, personal library. When I visited I was surprised to notice a Book of Mormon sitting there among his history and theology collection (far right column, third shelf down). Mind you, I have no idea whether he read or even opened it, but I love knowing that the “eye of faith” doctrine of the Book of Mormon was in MLK’s orbit as he strove to live as though he already had reached the Promised Land, as did Lehi in his day: “I have obtained a land of promise, in the which things I do rejoice” (1 Nephi 5:5).

Have you used an “eye of faith” approach in your life? How does the idea of acting as though the Lord’s eternal promises are already present (essentially giving yourself an A in life) land with you? How would it change how you interact with others or navigate life?

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Benjamin Zander conducting Mahler’s 5th symphony Adagietto:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnl25NXXNzM]

MLK’s I’ve been to the mountain speech:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgVrlx68v-0&t=84s]

Interactive photo of MLK’s bookshelf:
[https://www.civilandhumanrights.org/mlk/library/]