Three Levels of Seeing
As human beings, we are constantly seeing things at three levels, namely the physical, the socio-psychological and the spiritual. At the physical level we see with our two eyes, and what we see is what is there. For example, the Detroit River is a body of flowing water, and that’s it. A car is a car and a building is a building. In the same way, a man is a man and a woman, woman. At the physical level of seeing reality corresponds exactly to what the physical eyes see. That is why physical sciences are called exact sciences, because they deal with the physical nature of things. A doctor, for instance, examining the digestive system simply looks at what is there, following the detailed description of the nature, functions and working of the system. A pharmacist develops medications that target specific areas in our body. At this level, life is what you see. Scientific growth is the continuous understanding of the physical structures of the world through a deepened grasp of the laws imbedded in it, and the maximized use of this knowledge is what we see in technology. At the physical level, reality stares us in the face. Life lived at this level generally is as simple as reality is itself unassuming. Disagreement at this level is easy to settle through factual evidence as to the correct nature of the physical reality in question. This is what drives research.
But we also have the socio-psychological level of seeing facilitated by our mind. At this level, we are dealing with the meaning of things and events reconciled through the mind via the processes of perception and interpretation. Here, physical realities mask a deeper meaning. The mind tries to penetrate the physical reality to see the inner meaning. Hence, we can perceive and interpret a squeezing handshake as love, a smile as ambiguous or as love, a generous act as love or manipulation, a behavior as an act of love or lack of love. From this level emanates the feelings of love, joy, confidence, gratitude, as well as hate, prejudice, envy, jealousy, etc. Life at this level can be complicated, for we are constantly perceiving and interpreting and imposing meaning. Through communication we constantly correct and clarify our perceptions and interpretations and live more in peace or in distress according to our patterns of perceiving and interpreting events and interactions.
But there is a third level where the mind may be completely incapable of seeing clearly or even interpreting with absolute correctness; yet it sees the reality with certainty and clarity. This kind of seeing is largely collaborated by the heart’s sense of at-homeness with reality. This is the level of faith; it is the level of the sacraments where the mind surrenders to the authority of God. Relying on this surrender to the authority of God, the mind is led gradually by God’s light to penetrate and understand a little the deeper meaning of the reality. For this reason, faith is a gift. That Jesus is the bread of heaven, hidden in the Sacramental signs of bread and wine, is hard to understand at the first and second levels. It makes sense at the third level where we see only by surrendering and admitting to our incapacity to know fully the deepest mysteries of human life. That is why Jesus constantly asks us to believe, meaning that we should trust Him totally. When we approach Him in this faith, we understand better, and our faith is confirmed by the miracles we experience. The people of Nazareth, as many of us are today, were stuck at the first and second levels, and all we can say is: “How can this man give us his body to eat and his blood to drink? It is an intolerable language.” Indeed, it is intolerable. But once the shift is made to the spiritual level, we begin to see in faith what the eyes and the mind cannot see or understand. Dear Lord, increase and strengthen our faith in you. Amen.
~Fr Cornelius Okeke