Meister Eckehart said, (God has) created and formed the human soul according to God's own self, as we read: "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26).  And this is what God did.  God made the human soul so much like God's self that ... among all other marvelous creatures which God created so wonderfully there is none so like God as the human soul... After the creation of all creatures, they were so inferior and limited that God could not stir them.  The soul, however, made so much in God's likeness and image that it was possible for God's selt to be given to the soul..." (p.68)

To experience this hidden image of God in other people is the focus of this exercise unit.  In the final analysis this is the basic concern of everyone who wants to be right with others as a Christian.  We all know that is not easy.

In a conversation about the fear many have to reveal their "unconscious" and "subconscious", an unforgettable word came to me: "There is much darkness in me that is hidden in my subconscious.  But deeper than this darkness, in the deepest part of my being, I am there as the one created in the image of God."

In looking at what makes a person the image of God (symbol image), we must  believe that even when hidden, the capacity for being in the image of God is present even in those who are difficult and strange.  We must hold on to the hope that this original image will sometime be revealed.  And finally, we must believe that it is only love for another person that can help to bring forth the hidden image of God.  Therefore, our fellow human being becomes the place where we encounter God.  Faith, hope and love, through which the way to God is given, can grow in us only through a believing and loving association with another     person.  But the reverse applies just as much: the more alive faith, hope and love are in us, the easier it is for us to encounter a human being with faith, hope and love.(cf. Ruppret-Grün)

- Genesis 1:27 (Created in God's "Image")

- Meditate on a particular person and direct your inner glance to what you have discovered is good in him or her.  Be especially attentive for every sign, be it ever so small or insignificant, of God's image in that person - of Christ's likeness - of fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control listed as gifts of the spirit in the Epistle to the Galatians)...

- Thank God for the gifts in this person and linger respectfully, observing, savoring and pondering before God whom you actually encounter in, with and under this person in an aspect of their being (see second aspect of a spiritual symbol)...

- With much care direct your attention to what appears to you as darkness in a person and wait in this darkness, so to speak, if perhaps a small light will shine through (every failure has an opposite positive side!)...

Comment:
In the third option you can only engage in it when you do so with emotional equilibrium.  It is important that you react to darkness in others as something "healthy".  Perhaps a vigorous hike or something similar would be helpful at this point if strong negative emotions rise up in you.

- Michelangelo - The creation of Adam  ( picture meditation )

Jesus Christ, you who are the image of the living God, help me,

• 1.  to believe in your real presence in (name of person), despite all appearances to the   contrary...
• 2.  to hope for the unfolding of your image in (name), despite all contrary experiences.
• 3.  to love your image, O Lord, in (name), without letting myself be disappointed by   external appearances...

Jesus Christ, you who would encounter me in (name) open my eyes to your presence.

What was said (creating prayers of repetition) applies to a certain degree to our involvement with people.  Especially in the case of human encounters it remains that good intentions and realizations from the morning prayer often are erased from memory.  Here repetitive prayer has been helpful for me personally.  What imprints itself deeply through breathing-like repetition continues to "pray further" in me unconsciously, even exercising its effect on me when I focus on another person in an important conversation, especially one which  may be potentially emotional for me.