In July of 2006, I was approached by a friend of mine about writing a hymn. He was interested in a short prayer thought expressed by a retired minister who is a friend of both of us. My friend said the prayer went something like this: Lord, when I think of others, help me to see them as Jesus sees them. When I talked to the minister who wrote this prayer, he said that he used it to talk about our attitude towards homosexuals. I had expected as much.
I wanted to enlarge the notion to other situations. I went to the gospels and found four examples that I thought would be useful. They are all familiar stories about Jesus attitude towards people, and they make up the four verses of my hymn.
To write a hymn about our attitude towards homosexuals was quite challenging. If one is too strident in the language, people might be turned off immediately. What I tried to do was express it in such a way that the singer might say to themselves, "What did I just sing? Perhaps this is something I should think about." I hope that I achieved that objective.
The hymn tune is an old Irish folk tune. It is a beautiful tune that most people have heard. I wrote the harmonization to the tune.
Let me see them through Jesus’ eyes
Jesus looked on the face of a blind man,
Who had lived through eternal night.
So he touched him, and both eyes were opened,
And the blind man got back his sight.
When hurting persons look to me for aid,
Am I moved by the passion of their sighs?
I know Jesus of Nazareth loves them,
Let me see them through Jesus’ eyes.
When the poor widow dropped in her off’ring,
She was scorned for not giving more.
Jesus said, "She gave more than the others.
She has given her entire store."
Do I condemn the ones who cannot give?
Do I think that my gift should win the prize?
I know Jesus of Nazareth loves them,
Let me see them through Jesus’ eyes.
Jesus looked up and he saw Zacchaeus,
Who was hated and oft maligned..
He was shunned by the good folks of Israel,
Jesus said, "In your house, I’ll dine."
Do I shun those whose life-styles are not mine;
Those whom good folks will usually despise?
I know Jesus of Nazareth loves them,
Let me see them through Jesus’ eyes.
After Jesus was nailed to the scaffold,
He saw those who had caused his pain,
But he lifted his eyes to the Father.
"Forgive them, they don’t understand."
If I view persons as my enemies,
Do I cause them to sometimes pay the price?
I know Jesus of Nazareth loves them,
Let me see them through Jesus’ eyes.
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