What do you know about the people you work with? A little bit at the very least. What about the person you see once every week? Have you looked at someone without seeing them?
I have two neighbors here, I rarely say much to them. I have helped them both, but I haven’t truly seen them. They are pretty much a mystery to me; I don’t know their hopes, dreams, or fears. Only recently did I learn that one was a recent widow.
I looked but did not see. Almost every Saturday the past year, I worked with the homeless and poor. Other than Ken and Julius, I cannot tell you much about the others. Marianne, who leads the ministry can rattle off answers to any question asked about them.
I was walking through the River Market and I saw two guys talking to a homeless man. They saw him and did what Jesus did (John 9) by addressing two needs. First was his physical need, they bought him food where Jesus healed the blind man (John 9: 6-7). Then they prayed for him, which addressed his spiritual needs. Jesus did the same to the former blind man in John 9:35-38.
I need eyes like that, and a willingness to not be so rigid with my calendar. It’s the Golden Rule in action again. The one day I got to hunt last season, I had a chance to help a stranger.
He was an older gentleman who had shot a deer up on the top of a steep, brush-covered mountain. He asked for help and I accepted. In those few hours, I have to see him as he shared stories of his years in the mountains we hunt. Learned of his faith, childhood, and even his fear of dying out there without anyone knowing where he was.
How many people do we see with that much clarity every day? On the other hand, are you like me and so wrapped up in your thoughts that people are sometimes just an observation for you? Maybe wrapped up in the day-to-day and not considering what they may be going through, instead viewing them as an inconvenience.
I have been brought a long way. The Holy Spirit is steadily working on the renovations inside me. However, I still have a long way to go.
A Ronin's Journey 