Why Seeing Things?

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

- Jesus

Seeing is not just believing. For me, seeing is loving. I firmly believe that if I could watch someone every moment of his life, from conception to death, I would come to care deeply about that person, no matter how deplorably he lived, no matter how dull or unpleasant his personality. The simple act of seeing a person's life unfolding would kindle caring in my heart: seeing a little embryonic heart gather strength and begin to beat in the darkness of the womb, seeing that same heart flutter with the excitements of childhood, ache with the first pangs of love, break under the weight of grief, grow cold, grow warm again, and, finally, beat its last... if I could see all that, merely watch a person's journey from beginning to end, the beauty would overwhelm me. Vision is the pathway to love.

Deeper vision is an art, and it is one that I long to master. After all, there is so much beauty in this universe. I seek not only the long-range vision that takes in the panorama of all existence, but that gift of noticing the little things: pebbles on the footpath, wildflowers growing in the gutter, the first frost of winter, the last star of morning. I don't want to stumble through life with my head down and my eyes veiled, ignoring everything except the necessities for survival. I want to experience all that exists to be experienced - not only in the realm of rocks and rivers and rain, but in the emotional realm as well.

Let me not hide from feelings. Wherever they are, send them to me. If life sends me grief, let me grieve. If life sends me joy, let me rejoice. If a feeling comes to me, it must have a work to do in my heart. Please, let the doors to my soul fly open to the winds of grace, and let me trust that every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.

Lord, let me see what you see. Don't let me close my eyes to the pain of the world and become hardened to the suffering around me. Don't let me hide my face from the sun of happiness, either, from the beauty and wonder of creation. I don't want to spend my days in denial. I want to spend my life seeing things.