To Be Seen

This week I was in Kroger and saw someone sitting down, stacking the shelves. He was happily humming to himself, and I had a moment of being overcome with joy. I looked at him and said “Hello!” and he looked up and we spoke. And as I walked away he said “thank you for seeing me!” And it struck me. How many people do we overlook? How many times do we feel overlooked?

This Sunday we have the Gospel reading of Good Samaritan- and in order for this story to have even happened the Good Samaritan had to even SEE the person on the road, not just with his eyes but with his soul. To see him as a person who was worthy.

A recent acquaintance on Facebook is Rev. Ben Dehart and he retold the story like with this modern addition:

“And if we hesitate—and many of us do—

If our love falters at the lines of race or class or politics…

If our instincts are shaped more by fear than by compassion…

Then we need to remember where we were when Christ found us.

Because we were the ones in the ditch.

And sometimes the ones who cross the road to help us come from the last place we expect.

Like the woman who stepped out of the Park Slope Food Co-op, wearing a shirt with a bold progressive slogan. She tripped and fell hard on the sidewalk. A few people glanced over. Some hesitated. Most kept walking.

Then someone stepped forward.

A man in a red cap with white lettering—the kind that usually signals a very different worldview—knelt beside her.

He steadied her. Offered water from his bag. Waited until she was okay.

He didn’t ask what she believed. He just saw someone hurting—and helped.“

(Link to his profile: https://www.facebook.com/ben.dehart.5.)

There’s so many other people we can put in here. ICE agents and Immigrants. Republicans and Democrats. Gun owners and those who want more gun control. Men and women. People who don’t want rights for LGBTQIA+ people, and those who do.

The thing is, and I hate to always sound so Pollyanna-ish about it, but we are all people.

In our previous week’s reading- Jesus scolds the disciples for wanting vengeance on the Samaritans because they did not want to receive Jesus.

Father Ben and I spoke about that here- it’s long, mostly because one of my children kept interrupting and things ended up going off the rails:

Actionable Item:

This week- I’m going to try my best to first see people. To smile at people. At strangers. At people who might make me a little uncomfortable.

Seeing them is the first step to more.