love’s eyes see in all directions

For Fred, and for Mister Rogers, this was the work of God: seeing the eternal in your neighbor, that divine presence that allows us to show mercy to our neighbor—and to receive it.

[…]

Dr. Orr taught [Fred Rogers] that on one side of the spectrum stood the evil one, the accuser. In explaining what he had learned from his mentor, Fred told me, “Evil would like nothing better than to have us feel awful about who we are. And that would be back in here [in our minds], and we’d look through those eyes at our neighbor, and see only what’s awful—in fact, look for what’s awful in our neighbor.”

On the other side of the accuser stood Jesus, our advocate. “But Jesus would want us to feel as good as possible about God’s creation within us,” Fred said, “and in here [in our minds], we would look through those eyes, and see what’s wonderful about our neighbor. I often think about that.” (ebook, at ~60%)

The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers: Spiritual Insights from the World’s Most Beloved Neighbor, by Amy Hollingsworth

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