March 7th, 2026

Seeing The World Through The Eyes I/We were Born With

Daily Etty Hillesum (below) 

What would it mean to build a society in which every person is treated as an image of the Divine? 

​Rabbi Sharon Brous

To Build such a Society, Doesn't it Necessarily Have to Start with One Individual. And for that One to Change Her/His Perspective/Vision and Let that Vision Be a Constant Reminder of the Manifestation of the Divine

Here and Now 

To see the world devoid of differentiation. Now That Would Be  Revolutionary. 

Treating every person as the Incarnate Image of the Divine is considered revolutionary because it breaks down the walls of tribalism, hatred, and apathy. 

As Rabbi Brous notes, this is not a passive sentiment, but an urgent, active, and essential task to heal Our "world on fire". 

To treat every person as an image of the Divine — imago Dei in the Western tradition, atman in the Hindu, the "face of God" in Sufi thought — would require something more radical than policy reform. 

It would demand a revolution in perception before it could become a revolution in structure.

On Seeing the Divine in Everyone & Everything

The way you alchemize a soulless world into a sacred world is by treating everyone as if they are sacred until the sacred in them remembers.” —

 Sarah Durham Wilson

• “To a man who lives unto God nothing is secular, everything is sacred… His breath is incense and his life a sacrifice.” — 

Charles Spurgeon

• “Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool.” —

 Ralph Waldo Emerson

On “New Eyes” and Shifting Perspective

• “The only true voyage… would be… to possess other eyes, to see the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others.” — Marcel Proust

• “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” — Carl Jung 

On Seeing Through the Eyes of a Child (Innocence & Wonder)

• “To see the magic of life look through the wondrous eyes of a child.” — Debasish Mridha

• “If only we could see the world through the eyes of a child, this world would be a much better place! No hate, no disrespect, no injustice, no wars, just unconditional love and respect for others!” — Unknown

• “There’s joy and wonder everywhere when you see the world through the eyes of a child.” — Katrina Mayer

On Revolutionary Perception

• “A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.” — Goethe

• “Each of us possesses an exquisite, extraordinary gift: the opportunity to give expression to Divinity on earth through our everyday lives.” 

— Sarah Ban Breathnach

• “The world is a canvas, and our eyes are the paintbrushes that bring it to life.” 

— Unknown

• “Treat people better than how you feel they should be treated by treating them how God treats you.” — Dave Willis

On Seeing Without Differentiation

• “We are moments… We are the laughter we awaken, the embrace we give, the lives we make blossom.” — Eunice Ramos

• “Indeed, I have had it explained to me that the prefix ‘hu’ in some tongues meant ‘divine’, and ‘man’ of course, is mortal. So a human being is a divine mortal being.” 

— Unknown 

Etty Hillesum 

Why not turn the love that cannot be bestowed on another, or on the other sex, into a force that benefits the whole community and that might still be love? And if we attempt that transformation, are we not standing on the solid ground of the real world, of reality? A reality as tangible as a bed with a man or a woman in it.

מדוע לא להפנות את האהבה שלא ניתן להרעיף על האחד והיחיד, או על האחת והיחידה, לכוח שיועיל לחברה כולה, ושגם לו אפשר לקרוא אהבה? והרי אם נחתור לעשיית השינוי הפנימי הזה נוכל לומר שאנו עומדים עם שתי רגלינו על קרקע המציאות המוצקה של העולם האמיתי, מציאות מוחשית לא פחות משל מיטת גבר ואישה.

لماذا لا تحوّل الحب الذي لا نستطيع إسباغه على شخص آخر أو على الجنس الآخر إلى قوة تفيد المجتمع كله والتي يمكن أن تبقى حيا؟ وإذا قمنا بهذا التحول ألن نكون قد وقفنا على أرضية صلبة في العالم الحقيقي، في الواقع؟ واقع ملموس مثل السرير الذي فيه رجل أو إمرأة.