Seeing the person

We live in a world where we are called on to make decisions on the fly and where guidance is informed by opinion and commentary rather than by facts and considered responses. Our lives then seem to be dissipated by the competing forces which can seem to tear us in one direction and then another. This is never more evident than when we face major trauma in our life. Whether it be the loss of a person we loved, separation and divorce, moving from one place to another, the uncertainty of unemployment or facing the challenges of retirement from paid work. What is evident is that we need to own what is happening to us. We need to acknowledge grief but we also need to be supported by a community who is willing to accompany us and by people who are able to hold our story with love and respect. This helps us to discern what is truly important from that which just appears urgent. It helps us to discover our own self and what moves us into action. This is not something we rush into because these life changing events pose important questions. The most fundamental choice, however, is that we see the person in front of us and their immediate need. By taking the first obvious step a person starts to discover how healing and restoration can take place.

That we may see

Seeing is believing. Doubts can always creep into our lives when we pray for change but the same circumstances seem to recur over and over again. We want things to be different but things often seem to stay the same. We become blinded to how God may at work because our expectations are limited to what we expect. God seeks to expand our vision by expanding our hearts. There is a desire that God wants us to see and experience more. It is not that God has gone to sleep on the job but rather that we believe that God’s power to save us is limited to just what we can see.

Our belief is not just a matter of memorising sayings or writings but rather in allowing God to engage our deep need for salvation. To discover the place where our sight has become downcast or our vision blurred. Ultimately, God does not want us to die in our sins or our lack of belief that our lives have meaning. We discover our identity as a person in becoming what God asks us to become and discovering what leads us to beauty and wonder. Lord, that we may see.

Who will sate my thirst?

The ability of someone to listen to our story and believe in us allows us to see to the heart of another. When Jesus sits down with the woman at the well we see an interchange which changes a life. In the first instance, the woman comes to fulfil a basic need to receive water so that she can live. She needs to have her thirst quenched. This goes deeper when she notices the obvious cultural context from which each speaker comes from. However, the conversation does not stop here but Jesus draws her towards a deeper thirst of what brings meaning and hope to her. Through this dialogue, Jesus encounters the person and draws them into a deeper relationship with him. This conversion experience not only touches the heart of the woman but also the community to which she belongs. Each of us has a story and a context in which we live. Each of us searches for a meaning which adds substance to that story. We thirst for someone who will bring that meaning to our life and sate our thirst. As we continue this journey may we discover the one who listens to our story and brings meaning to our lives!

Tuning out the background hum

Lent is a time when we start to clear out the static air and tune into God. We become so used to hearing voices that they can appear to be a wall of noise which hums along in the background. We become used to this noise and when it is lessened we can become surprised by the other things we hear. We become aware of the natural sounds which surround us and which are not mediated to us by others. This quietening allows us to become present to ourselves and the environment in which we live. In coming to this place we also start to listen to the noise which is within us and the many things that can distract us and can at times seem to overwhelm us. Yet in this place, we are called to notice the person who wants us to hear his voice. This takes time and practice. We need to find that place where we can most easily be present. We need to come to this place in our own bodies with a piece of scripture or a reading that speaks to us of God. We need to still ourselves and be open to the one clear voice which speaks to us and calls us into a relationship of prayer which will transfigure our life.