Father, this seed was planted in my mind several days ago, and I have just taken the time to write it down. Please bless our time together. Amen.
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Recently, a picture popped up on my phone, and I cannot remember where I saw it. I’ve searched, and what I found is less complete than expected. What I remember was that under certain lighting, a crow is not black in color. I thought it was just not a spectrum that the naked human eye could pick up on. But as I have searched, I don’t believe that is the case.
In fact, the picture – at least the one I found and posted here – is not a crow at all but an English Starling. Of course, they are predominantly black, with lacey, beigy-gray highlights. Under ultraviolet (UV) light, they are very colorful. And, if it is true, birds see each other in the ultraviolet spectrum.
Okay, so that got me thinking about how we see each other. It’s easy to call things as we see them, isn’t it? I was part of a conversation recently where a story shared involved suicide. (I wish my brain worked faster than it does. For the life of me, I couldn’t come up with anything to interject until much later.) As you might well imagine, the tragedy of it all was discussed, and I heard the word selfish at least once. All the comments thrown at the victim were negative. It made me uncomfortable, but I remained silent, not knowing what to say.
Honestly, the victim’s actions will impact their family for generations to come. My take on suicide is that often, the victims are not thinking straight. They are so overwhelmed by so many things that they feel they have no other option but to end it all. It will stop their pain, and they probably think that it will bring relief to their loved ones in that they won’t have to deal with them any longer.
So, let’s take a turn here. How do we see people? It’s the norm for us to see them through the lens of our own life experiences. It’s the norm to literally see them as everyone else sees them. We perceive them as hopeless…beyond mental healing…thinking only of themselves. We do it all the time. It is how we process the input we receive in our interactions with others.
Now, what would we see if we saw people as God sees them? We might call it Heavenly UV vision! We’re all seen by others in certain ways. One of my fellow drivers calls me Saint Thomas whenever he sees me. I am so undeserving of what the title implies. Believe me, God knows me. He sees me for who I really am. But the thing is, God still loves me…and He uses me to pass that love along to others!
It’s a challenge, but what if, instead of jumping to conclusions and assuming the “obvious,” we use our God-given Heavenly UV vision and strive to see beyond the outer layers of people and, with God’s help, see at least a part of who they really are. In the past, I’ve used the phrase “see between the lines.” Let’s do that.
Lord Jesus, with your eyes help us to see others as You see them. Please help us to let love prevail in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. Amen.
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. 1 John 4:11-12 NLT
May 8th, 2024, Wed, 6:47 pm
