look for the magic

The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

                     Eden Phillpotts, A Shadow Passes, p. 19, Cecil Palmer & Hayward, London.

 

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I have often said

we hear what we want to hear

see what we want to see

and believe what we want to believe

 

make no mistake about it

confirmation bias is a real thing

so is perception bias

 

if I want to see evil

I will

If I want to see good

I will

 

it is not, of course

that this world is bad or good

dark or light

hate or love

 

this is a messy world

where everything is mixed together

 

the wheat and the chaff

 

a person is both beautiful and terrible

there is such a thing as joyful solemnity

 

with rare exceptions (and there are, I believe, exceptions)

people are not saints or sinners

people are saints and sinners

 

so the great challenge of faith

the great challenge of love

is to try and see it all

 

to see the best in the worst of us

and to see the worst in the best of us

 

can I see the spark of divinity in that person

whose ideology offends and behaviors harm?

can I see the flaws in that person with whom I align so passionately?

 

I suspect Jesus is our model in more ways than one

wholly human, wholly sacred

blended together until the distinction became meaningless!

 

we too are blended

with sacred and secular striving to dominate

 

but both are there

if can but just see it

 

Someone once said that until we see people the way God sees them

We cannot see God in each person

 

so let us look for the magical things

those sparks of light

those hints of divinity

 

the gross and unsavory will show up easily enough

they do not need our help

to become visible

 

but the magical

love, kindness, compassion

ah

 

we need to seek those treasures

lest we miss them

 

so let our wits

and souls grow sharper

 

that we might see God’s magic

in each person we meet