Learning to see God
Nick, Jonathan and Diane Kramer’s eldest
child, was a happy, energetic kid who’d usually come running or skipping out of
school. But one fall day, when Nick was six years old, his dad was parked at
the curb when Nick was walking slowly towards the car, his curly head hung low,
his mouth turned down, a bunch of papers in his hand. Nick seemed to drag
himself along the side-walk. He slowly pulled open the car door and slumped
into the seat.
“Hi, Nick. How are you doing?” his dad asked.
No response.
“What’s going on? Did something bad happen
today?”
Nick slowly nodded yes before turning his
face away.
“Oh, come on, Nick. Tell your old dad what’s
wrong.”
“I’m bad,” Nick said at last.
“Bad? Why do you say that?”
Nick handed over a crumpled piece of paper. Smoothing
it out it revealed rows of math problems. A big red “-3” dominated the top.
“Look,” Nick said, tears running down his
cheeks, his lips quivering in an attempt at self-control. He pointed at the
glaring red mark. “Look, dad, I got a bad grade.”
After considering for a long moment, his dad
said, “That minus three doesn’t mean you’re bad or that you got a bad grade,
Nick. It means you missed just three problems on this whole paper. Your teacher
wants you to learn from your mistakes. But that’s not all that counts. How many
did you get right?”
Nick had no idea so his dad started counting
up the correct one’s that weren’t marked, pointing at each one as I went. By
the tenth correct one, Nick had joined in the counting, and by the time we’d
gotten to 27, Nick’s tear stained cheeks were showing signs of happiness. His
dad had him write a big black “+27” next to the red “-3.”
“There. Twenty-seven right.” Nick absorbed
the truth for a moment before his usual bright smile reinstated itself on his
little-boy-face. The subject was changed and the day went on.[1]
That story encapsulates a fundamental lesson
in faith. Far more than a set of beliefs, faith consists of developing a
different perspective on life by learning to see God’s presence and activity in
our midst. When we make that shift, we become like those considered simpletons
in the presence of the allegedly wise or disciples of itinerant rabbi and miracle
worker who discover to their amazement that they are able to bring healing just
like Jesus did.
I long ago gave up pretending to be able to
explain the mystery of the Eucharist, the power of the Holy Spirit in the
conversation of two people who are fully present to one another, and so forth. Instead,
I invest my efforts in learning to see as Jesus did, that is, in learning to
see God’s presence and activity in our midst. Amen
[1] Jonathan
Kramer and Diane Dunaway Kramer, Losing the Weight of the World (New
York: Doubleday, 1986), pp. 86-87
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