What do we see?

As we read the newspaper, a column article, no more than fodder from the editor to fill space, passes us by. The bold printed headline ‘Missing girl found raped and Murdered’ simply causes us to glance and move on.

We cannot possibly get emotionally involved in every sad story we come across. We have trained ourselves to read telescopically, distant and detached. The editor’s random choice to balance the page was a living nightmare for two deeply grieving parents.

I’m reminded of a passage from Lamentations ch 1 verse 12 ‘is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?’  ‘Look and see see …..’  It is very easy to glide through life, blinkered and clothed in a mental dressing gown, unaware and sometimes uninterested in other people’s lives.

When Jesus saw a crowd of people, He had compassion on them and described them as sheep without a shepherd, helpless and harassed. He saw beyond the charade and cosmetic dressing of success and grandeur, He saw people who had no aim or direction in life.

May God help us in our daily lives to see people as Jesus saw them.

Prayer:

Please God give me a soft heart, sympathetic eyes and a sensitive mind toward people I meet today. Help me to see beyond what I normally see. Amen