With God's help, we can see better

We see what we have been trained to see. Another way to think about it is to say that we see what is important to us. It may be that the rest of the picture is out of focus, or it may be that we simply cannot see it because our frame is too small.

Given that we see what we are trained to see, it might be important for us to consider who or what is training us. Are we being trained to see things for the benefit of the one influencing us or for our own health and growth? It matters. Not all agendas are equal, and no human agenda is complete.

I know that when I am hunting, fishing, working on a home improvement project, or hiking, it is much better to have more than one person involved. Even better if they are not seeing the same things in the same ways. Just think of all that I would have missed in life if I depended only on what I can see on my own?

Over the years, my vision has changed — hopefully for the better. What I look for and what I focus upon has been trained by experience, education, and decisions made. It is the decisions made that are most important. Experience happens to us, and one might say that if we have access to education, it is our decision to take advantage of it. But deciding what we look for requires some effort on our part.

Deciding to see takes courage. It takes courage when dealing with our health, our families, and our careers. Better to see the whole of what we are dealing with than to cover our eyes and hope for the best, not that any of us can truly accomplish this. The attitude that comes with the desire to see is perhaps more important than a full view.

We gain sight by listening to what others see. We gain sight by focusing on more than just one aspect of life. Sometimes tradition is better than change. Sometimes exclusion is necessary, as is inclusion. Sometimes it is better for everyone to do the same thing, usually not. Deciding to focus on detail (which is not my strong suit) rather than the big picture (which I believe I am better at doing) is difficult for me, but I am better for it.

It is important to remember that salvation requires judgment. Justice requires vindication and punishment. Equality will lift some and pull others down. Inclusion without responsibility will always leave out those who hold high the importance of standards. Exclusion will always be in danger of drawing the lines too harshly. The problem we have is that we may not be on the side of any of these things that we think we are. No one can see well enough.

The first requirement for being healed of blindness (or rather our blind spots) is humility that will allow us to admit that we are blind. I would like to suggest that it is OK for us to go through life with blind spots so long as we keep close to us those who can see them for us. This is the failing in our society right now. It is not that we have blind spots, it is that we make religious, political, or tribal adversaries of those who could help us avoid the ditches.

We need courage to look at those things which we do not like. We need equal courage to depend upon those who can see those things that we cannot.

As a Christian, I believe that with God’s help we can see better tomorrow than we do today. I also believe that so long as we claim we can see perfectly well we will remain blind. May God give us the courage to help each other see.

Sean Niestrath lives and ministers in Madisonville. You may contact him via email at sean.niestrath@outlook.com.