EOC

I recently had a father and his elementary-aged daughter in my office, dealing with a particularly difficult situation.  As the father and I were conducting business,  the student was curiously examining the "stuff" in the superintendent's office.  She happened to notice the screen saver that floats on my computer when it is in inactive mode.  The screen saver is simply three letters - EOC - that do that tumble and float thing across the screen.  The curious student wanted to know what EOC meant...

That EOC prompt has been in my direct eyesight for the last 20 years, either as a screen saver, or simply printed on card stock and taped immediately in front of me on the desk.

EOC stands for Eyes of Christ.  I have used EOC as a visual reminder for me to always be fully present and attentive to the visitors in my office, to discern if I am seeing the eyes of Christ staring back at me.  I was raised in the Christian faith, and adhere to it still.  In Matthew 25:40, Jesus relates a parable in which the king says, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."  My EOC screen saver is a constant reminder to treat each visitor to my office as if I were interacting with Christ himself.

That EOC is also a reminder for me to consider whether or not my visitors are seeing the eyes of Christ when they look at me in return.  

One of my favorite songs reinforces this concept of Christ-in-us-ness: St. Theresa's Prayer by John Michael Talbot.  I suppose it doesn't much matter what religion we subscribe to, the essence of its integrity is dependent upon the expression of its tenets by its followers.  In effect, what we model defines us, and subsequently, reflects directly upon our faith. 

That father and student left my office after we were done with our difficult business.  Several minutes later, the father reappeared at my door, in tears.  He thanked me for the reminder of how important it is for us who carry the name of Christ to be His physical manifestations, in/through our daily living.  

Then, it was my turn to cry.

"Christ has no body now…...................................................……….. but yours."