Skip to main content

I See You

I ran into Smith's today to deposit a check and on my way into the store, I noticed a man holding a sign asking for assistance. I made a mental note to help him on my way out. As I was driving out of the parking lot, it wasn't convenient to stop--he was on the other side of the road and I was in a hurry to get home, so I drove on by and glanced the other way. Why do we do that? I know why. When we look away, we can pretend we don't see their suffering. And if we don't see it, we are off the hook to help or don't have to feel guilty for not helping. 

Well, I didn't get too far before turning my car around. I wanted that man to know "I see you!" "I see your suffering and your suffering is mine!" I pulled up to the curb and rolled down the passenger side window. I was now close enough to see his cardboard sign that read, "Working on getting my situation worked out." He stammered, "I'm working on getting back to work and I'm . . . " He was jumbling words and nervous. He had no teeth, his clothes were wretched and his hair disheveled. His face was bright red with irritations and sunburn. I felt compassion. I interrupted his explanations with, "We all need a little help sometimes my friend! Take this and peace out. I love you!" And I drove off.

In effect, I said to my brother, "I see you!"And to me, it seemed that being seen felt as precious to him as the money.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holy Treason

I don’t know if you’re like me or not, but I was born into the one and only “true” religion of God. I spent my entire life studying and living the principles and teachings of my faith. I knew the doctrine, and I believed it to be true. Until I didn’t. The road to the unraveling of my faith is a rather long one—definitely another article for another day--but suffice it to say, I began studying other religions and realized that all of them contained beautiful truths. I felt as uplifted and inspired while reading their scriptures as I did reading mine. I understood why some referred to religion as a “faith culture” for I was now aware that had I been born and raised in a different religion, I’d have believed that religious tradition to be true. I came to see religions as merely vehicles leading us back to God. Surely God didn’t care whether his children drove jalopies or Jaguars so long as they were moving along the superhighway back to Him. Or could it be her? Or perhaps there wasn’t ju...
2 comments
Read more

Relationships

I've been thinking a bit about relationships. I'm seeing them differently than I've ever seen them before. First, I realize that relationships are created in our minds. What we think about our relationships defines them. If I think my daughter is ungrateful, I will see ingratitude in all her actions. If I tell myself my coworker is annoying, I will find him extremely so.  And so it goes. What we think about others creates how we relate to them. So why not think happy, positive, loving thoughts about the people we relate with? We absolutely have the power to create amazing relationships by changing the way we think about our relations. Second, I've been thinking about the importance of loving the people in our life for who they are, not for what we need them to be. People need freedom to be who they want to be. If you love someone, you don't try to change them. That isn't love. Love is accepting someone for who they are and where they are right now. Love know...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reinforcements and Revelations

Today was full of fun reinforcements and revelations. I belong to a private Facebook group of former Mormons and there is always interesting information being shared. I enjoy reading the experiences of other members and I find comfort in knowing I'm not alone. This weekend several members of the community shared posts about an email they have received from the church asking them to complete a survey on why they left the church. Here is what one member shared: Did anyone else receive a survey by email today from the church? I guess I’m still on their mass email list. Normally I would have just deleted it, but it said if I filled it out I would get a $10 Amazon gift card, so I decided to hurry and complete it. 😂 😜 It had some general factual questions, but then it asked some deep hard questions. Basically, it is trying to figure out who and why people are leaving the church and what they can do to prevent it from happening even more.  They are trying to see if t...
2 comments
Read more