And would some Power the small gift give usTo see ourselves as others see us!It would from many a blunder free us,And foolish notion:
(Robert Burns, "To a Louse")
"I can't bear it. They're so young and beautiful. Why did they ever have to get old?" says Emily of her parents in Thornton Wilder's Our Town. She has been granted the privilege of coming back to earth for one day.
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? -every, every minute?" Emily asks.
"The saints and poets, maybe - they do some," the Stage manager responds.
We don't want to live our lives as "just blind people", missing the real significance of our existence.
Recently my brother shared a family picture of Mom and Dad and all our siblings in a pose on the family farm. I studied the photo and mused about how beautiful everyone looked.
In retrospect I remember our sibling rivalries and everyday disagreements. At the time we didn't think everyone was so wonderful. Non of that remained - only the beauty of each member of a family I was seeing through the eyes of love.
God sees us through the eyes of love. We are his creation and God has a vested interest in us. "I have loved you with an everlasting love," (Psalm 14:7). "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you," (Jeremiah 1:5).
Today God invites us to walk with him in love. God did not send his son into the world to judge it, but that the world might be saved through him (John 3).Walking with Jesus will change us.
Like Peter and the early disciples, others looking at us, ordinary persons, will recognise us as companions of Jesus imbued by the Spirit. Nothing can change us like spending time with the Lord.
Realizing how dear we are to God and others will help sustain us through difficult and lonely times. I am reminded of a Russel Friedman's quote: "Lord, please help me be half the man my dog thinks I am."
