I was sitting outside at the camp where I’m spending the
week, thinking and praying about what to write today, when I looked down and
noticed millipedes crawling near my feet.
At first, I thought that the world must look so big to them.
I had just played a game where I had to crawl like an inch-worm, and from the
vantage point of where I lay, trying to look ahead and see where I was
attempting to squirm, the world looked very big.
But then I thought, they really are camouflaged for their
surroundings. They don’t want to be seen.
And then I thought, aren’t the two together what so many
people are—especially in megachurches? Existing in a big world, not really
wanting to be seen?
But then I thought, yet is that true? Do people really not
want to be seen? Or are they simply afraid to be seen because they are afraid
of getting hurt?
I know that the campers this week have hurt some millipedes
when seeing them.
I don’t know.
I suppose maybe it’s both. I suppose maybe we’re a
combination of wanting to be seen and wanting to remain anonymous in this big
world. I suppose maybe our desires can be different at different times. I
suppose maybe we can want to be seen by some by want to remain part of the
crowd to others.
Again, I don’t know.
I just know that when we see someone—when we really see
them—we should see them as a beloved child of God, not necessarily good but not
beyond redemption, not necessarily perfect but not beyond grace, not
necessarily pretty but not beyond beauty, and not necessarily all together but
not beyond hope.
That’s what God did with God’s people time and time again. Just
look at the story of Jonah. The whole thing. And that’s what Jesus did when he
walked on this earth, died a painful death, and was resurrected into life.
We live in a big world where it’s easy to get lost. Let’s
pray that we will see people when they are ready to be seen and that when we
do, we will truly see them, and love them, and welcome them to the table, just
as they are.
Amen.
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