Looking but not Seeing

When I was in high school I took an AP Spanish class during my senior year and I remember a time when I caught one of my younger classmates gazing at me. At first I wasn't sure if perhaps it was my exceptionally good looks (I might be slightly exaggerating here) or if he was simply daydreaming and I happened to be in his view.

“Carlos, are you alright?” I asked.

“I want one of those” he replied.

“You want what?” I asked him, feeling a little confused.

“I want that thing that you have with God” he said to me.

Unsure of what he meant I answered him, “Faith?”

“Yes! How do I get one?!” he exclaimed.

I think it is safe for me to say that most of us, if not all of us, have or will struggle with the concept of Faith. Perhaps our struggle lies in understanding what it means. Knowing what it looks like. What it feels like. How it works. Or how to even get one. Regardless of what our challenges might be, it all begins with the desire to want one - just like Carlos. Often we think that Faith is something so far and so difficult to grasp; but, perhaps it is closer to us and within our reach. Our faith is very much like the psychological concept called “looking but not seeing”.

In Psychology we learned that there are times when we can consciously and subconsciously focus our attention on specific things. For example, there are times when I have been driving and suddenly realize that I cannot recall the last 5 minutes of my route! This is what we would refer to as looking but not seeing. I was obviously paying attention since I did not crash and managed to successfully drive the car, but my mind was focused on something else. God is constantly at work. He lies within us and outside of us. He is in our midst. You can find Him in the everyday activities of our lives. He is present in moments of joy and laughter, and in times of pain and suffering. If we don't see him, it is because we are looking but not seeing. Perhaps we are too distracted with the constant noise and busyness of our lives. Perhaps we are too focused on our worries and our fears. Or we are simply to caught up in our own beliefs and concepts about life. My hope for you and I, is that this Lent, we challenge ourselves to not simply look, but to truly SEE God’s presence amongst us.

“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” - St. Augustine of Hippo