seeing things differently
Today like Bartimaeus we approach Jesus and beg him “Rabonni we want to see.” We want to see. Teihlard de Chardin once said – “the whole of life lies in the verb seeing – to see.” I believe so too – the whole of life lies in the verb seeing, for most of the time what makes us happy or unhappy with life, what makes life a burden or a joy is how we see things in life. Seeing makes the difference.
A certain Japanese, whose barn was burnt to the ground by accident, wandered at his lost but finally sighed with glee saying: “Barn is burnt down, now I can see the moon.” He may have received life’s greatest misfortune but he chose to see it from another perspective. The roof may be gone but one gets a good view of the moon. How we look at life spells the difference. Failures can be seen as temporary setbacks; difficulties may be seen as challenges; a crisis may be seen as an opportunity, a reprimand may be seen as a lesson to be learned; sin may be seen as an invitation to appreciate grace all the more. It’s how you view life that makes it beautiful.
You have already heard the story of that boy who imagined himself to be the best baseball player in the world. While practicing he would shout, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world,” throws the ball up, then whacks it with the bat. He misses. The next time he shouts, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world,” throws the ball up and whacks it with the bat. He misses again. Third time, fourth time he always misses again and again. So, on the sixth try, he shouted, “I’m the greatest pitcher in the world,” throws the ball up and whacks it with the bat, and of course he missed. The boy beamed proudly and shouted, “see I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!”
I am not saying that we see different things from the rest. What I’m saying is we see the same things differently. Blindness is not just a disease of the eyes, it is also a disease of the soul when we do not see things in the light of Christ, in the perspective of the divine. And so in this mass we say, “Rabboni we want to see.”
A certain Japanese, whose barn was burnt to the ground by accident, wandered at his lost but finally sighed with glee saying: “Barn is burnt down, now I can see the moon.” He may have received life’s greatest misfortune but he chose to see it from another perspective. The roof may be gone but one gets a good view of the moon. How we look at life spells the difference. Failures can be seen as temporary setbacks; difficulties may be seen as challenges; a crisis may be seen as an opportunity, a reprimand may be seen as a lesson to be learned; sin may be seen as an invitation to appreciate grace all the more. It’s how you view life that makes it beautiful.
You have already heard the story of that boy who imagined himself to be the best baseball player in the world. While practicing he would shout, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world,” throws the ball up, then whacks it with the bat. He misses. The next time he shouts, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world,” throws the ball up and whacks it with the bat. He misses again. Third time, fourth time he always misses again and again. So, on the sixth try, he shouted, “I’m the greatest pitcher in the world,” throws the ball up and whacks it with the bat, and of course he missed. The boy beamed proudly and shouted, “see I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!”
I am not saying that we see different things from the rest. What I’m saying is we see the same things differently. Blindness is not just a disease of the eyes, it is also a disease of the soul when we do not see things in the light of Christ, in the perspective of the divine. And so in this mass we say, “Rabboni we want to see.”
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