Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.
How willing are we to see everything and every situation as a gift from God? And granted, sometimes that kind of attitude can be quite a challenge. When everything is hectic at work, or when your work goes unappreciated, it’s hard to see that work as a gift. When your kids are making you nuts or your spouse seems distant, it can be hard to see your family as a gift. When aging parents are suffering from illness or children are sick, it can be hard to see life as a gift. There are many obstacles to seeing the beauty of every person and situation.
Yet that’s just what Jesus tells us we should do. We are blessed to see what we see. When I was in seminary, working as a hospital chaplain, I saw my share of death and disease. My fellow chaplains were going through the same thing. Then, one day, one of them brought in this very Gospel reading for discussion in the morning. When we reflected on the truth of the reading, we found that we were able to see grace in the middle of all the suffering, pain and sadness.
Sometimes even when things are hard, God can accomplish great things by helping us to carry those crosses. Even more important, God can help us to see great grace happening that would not otherwise happen. It’s difficult to get there, but today we can pray that we would consider ourselves blessed to see the things we see, and to hear the things we hear. Let us pray that God can help us to see the grace in every person and situation.