Look and Really See!

Ever notice how you scare a wild animal—it darts off—and then stops to look back at you?  There is some element of curiosity that just wants to know who that other creature is!  That happened this morning as a deer darted up the path, stopped and looked back at me.  Just at a safe distance.  Then there was the fox in Maine that was trotting along the road.  I stopped, got out with my telephoto camera—but it had run off.  So I followed it down through the underbrush until I gave up and went back to my car.  There it was waiting for me!  One last peek—then off it strode. 

How often do I get a good look and truly see the people around me?  Some cultures disdain looking into the stranger’s eyes. Most of the time, I am into my own schedule, filling the day without letting the day come to me—very much asleep to the people around me.

That’s what impresses me about Jesus.  He forgot safe distances.  He looked and really saw those in need.  Who touched my robe—that’s what he wanted to know.  For heaven’s sake—forget that pun!—he was in a crowd and he wants to know the individual person who touched his robe! 

Look and see…

Really see. 

There is God in the world in the eyes of the stranger we truly stop and welcome.