Beneath the Surface; Dare to See

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.    2 Corinthians 4:18           

I subscribe to more inbox interruptions than any one person should.  I have a tendency to sign-up as I come across teachers of motivation, marketing, spirituality, leadership, and self-help.  And then the constant daily devotionals, breaking news, severe weather notices and well, it's way too much.



About a month ago, I read a post by Seth Godin.  (I have a feed of his articles on this blog page as well - he rarely disappoints.)  Seth's article, Zooming In – The magic of looking more closely garnered my attention.  His premise notes;

The act of zooming (actually or metaphorically) is a modern thrill, the opportunity to see what was there as we move closer to what is there. Suddenly, new levels reveal themselves to us, and we begin to see the mechanisms that are hidden from us at first glance.

But one particular sentence was especially interesting to me:

My hunch is that once a medical student has understood what makes us tick, people don’t look quite the same anymore. 

A spectacular online photo (Click Here) allows us to visualize what Seth is referring to in his article.  Don’t miss engaging with this link.  It allows you to ‘see’ from an original point of view but encourages you to click again and again to zoom-in revealing more granularity than you’d imagine.

What we think we see is never what is actually there. Considerable complexity and detail lay under the surface easily missed if one fails to look deeper.

So the point I’d like to make is this.

When meeting someone for the first time (or the first 160th time) look closer.  We might recognize someone just as we'd behold the first impression of the online photo.  We might believe that this someone is a friend. We might allow fear and prejudice to declare this someone is an enemy.

Can we take a moment to zoom in?  Can we consider that there's beauty or sadness or some other hidden value present yet invisible unless we delve deeper?  Can we perhaps, ask a question or two while actually listening to the answer they provide?

What kind of questions?  Well, before finishing this article, I was introduced to a more 'human' example that just begged to be included today.  This Dutch ad called "All We Share" (YouTube link) was re-packaged by Mashable with a few comments worth reading.

Rephrasing just a little, once we understand what makes us tick, people don't look quite the same anymore.

It may lie within our power to find what God has created in every person we meet.

It is conceivable that we could, maybe just for a moment, disregard the temporary while finding the eternal in all of God's creation - in heaven AND on earth.

It is within our reach to find a way to bring this 'season of love' to everyone we meet.

Happy Valentine's Day