OPEN YOUR EYES
I like to believe in people, give them the benefit of the doubt. I really do, but it’s so hard sometimes. You carry the weight of your prejudices and biases, accumulated through a lifetime of experiences. For instance, take panhandlers; I get a lot of them at my office downtown. Hey, they say, I’m trying to drive somewhere and I’m running out of gas and if you could just give me a few dollars.
I’ve already made up my mind about them. I still might give them a buck or two, but flashing through my mind is “bum,” or “druggie,” or any negative image. Yet, maybe they really do need the money. And what kind of person would I be if I turned them away?
Everyone has preconceived ideas of others at times. Take Ananias, one of God’s chosen ones. He was directed by Jesus to go see a man in need of saving. When he heard it was Saul – the hated, vile persecutor of believers of Jesus – he did an emotional double take. He couldn’t believe it This was not someone he wanted to see.
Ananias put his concerns in check, though, and helped complete one of the greatest conversions in the Bible. Saul, who was on the way to Damascus when he was blinded by a heavenly light, had his eyesight restored and went on to become Paul, the great follower of Christ. But Saul wasn’t the only one to have his eyes opened that day; one might say that Ananias did, too.
Perhaps we all need to have our eyes opened, to see each other as we really are. God is shining the light on us all. Maybe all we need to do is look and see clearly.
Dear God, help us to see each other as we truly are and to treat each other with the love and respect you expect from us. Amen.
Ken Hobart
