Three Sets of Eyes

After attending the World Methodist Conference in Nairobi some years ago we went on a Safari in Africa. There we came upon a scene that is impacted in my mind; a scene of such horror that it still chills me to think about it. I looked deeply into three sets of eyes. The first eye contact occurred when a hyena raised his head and looked straight at me. His mouth, with the natural fixed grin of all hyenas, was dripping with the blood of a wildebeest he was ripping apart. Our eyes met for a moment and I felt the impact of madness and insane glee from that glance.

My next encounter was from the eyes of the young wildebeest being devoured. Could anything be more horrifying than being eaten alive? Already its legs were ripped off and the dark, hairy hyena was chomping on the pink, young thigh of the wildebeest. The wildebeest looked intensely into my eyes. I experienced its look of panic, of terror, and then, resignation. The life Spirit was still present , the body still twitching.

The third set of eyes I encountered at the scene was from a large humped body sitting on a close-hanging limb. A vulture watched the frenzied scene playing out below it. Those hooded eyes met mine for a moment. I encountered greed and a smug satisfaction from those eyes.

If “eyes are the doorway to the soul” as poets say I had encountered three haunting souls.