There once was a man who could see. And when I say he could see, I mean he really saw people for who they were.
This was a gift and a curse.
One day he was in the local supermarket, minding his own business in the spice aisle – while picking out the ingredients for his next smoked pork masterpiece – he looked up and he saw someone. A young father, who had two young children in his cart – both a boy and girl came around the corner that they locked eyes for just a fleeting glance.
Yet seer saw, and what he saw was not pleasant.
The seer also overheard the young father say, “If you don’t sit down in the cart now, I will make it where you can’t sit down when we get home.” (Just for the record, this is a classic line I believe that was used on myself and everyone I knew growing up in south in the mid 1980’s – no serious harm was going to befall us, but the threat felt real) Again, the seer did not see a child abuser in these words, but he saw something else.
He saw pain. He saw sorrow. He saw desperation.
If you saw the seer when saw others you could see the emotions move across his face. He felt deeply that which others were experiencing. He felt in its purest of forms. There were times that the seer would see more clearly than the one who he was seeing.
So in this young father, the seer saw the reality of a sick wife at home, who had not been well for some time. This was on the heels of an unwanted move for the sake of his job that brought them to this town and away from family and friends. The job paid well enough – but he was contemplating a different job when everything hit the fan. So with his wife being sick, and she needed him, and the kids needed him – he just kept going. He felt trapped. He felt alone. He did not know where to turn, all that he knew was he had to keep going forward.
The seer saw all of this very quickly.
You and I, well we would have to really know someone before we could see the depths of their hearts enough to see what was going on beneath the surface of the water. If we saw this man in the store, we might throw shade. We would say, “I can’t believe that man. He must be a child abuser. Poor children. I hope they turn out okay.” – and turn and continue shopping.
We are not the seer, therefore, we can not see the full story in a moment – we see in parts and pieces. We see the waves caused by the winds that are blowing at the moment; we can not see underneath the water or know the contours of the depths of another soul unless we take the time to know them.
So my friends, today as you encounter people, please remember to see them as people. People with good, bad and ugly things that have, are and will happen to them. See them as people like you. See them as others that want others to know them and still love them, just as you and I want to be known and loved in spite of all that is going on underneath the surface of our lives.
Strength and courage,
kp
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