Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Wednesday March 2, 2011

Mamihlapinatopei? Nope this is NOT a Greek Word for love though it may lead to such. It is a word from the Yahgan, one of the languages of Terre del Fuego. Its meaning is simple but loaded with bliss or danger. According to Readers Digest at Dr. Findley's office, Mamihlapinatopei means:

"The wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are reluctant to start."

The reluctance to start is based on probable experience in that knowledgeable people understand that there is more to a lasting relationship than "Just one Look." And when such a look is experienced by "both," the danger can be and usually is more disastrous than blissful.

King Solomon speaks to the woman in Song 6:5:

Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me:

To deny the power of the "look" is deny the scripture, personal experience and history.

The eyes have the silent power to convey serious interest in another, to let another know they are held in contempt, or admiration, lust (The Capitan's wife) to Joseph, show fear or hopelessness. The most blissful words of love are uttered by the eyes.

Thoughts of "I told you so" are also conveyed by the "look" as recorded by the "Beloved Physician" when Peter denied Christ three times:

Luke 22:61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 62 And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

Shakespeare put it like this:

No sooner met but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy. As You Like It. Act v. Sc. 2.

We taught our children to sing, "Be careful little eyes what you see." We must learn to shackle what our eyes convey to others, little and sometimes big forbidden thoughts that are directed as though by laser to someone and without a word being uttered our truest thoughts about them at that instant. And as the old timers taught, "Some thoughts are better left to themselves."

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2011 Use with credit.

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