Am I willing to see?

Events and circumstances in Texas this week, along with my studies, have reminded me to question how I look at things. This I know…when we look with expectation, we see what we expect to see, and we miss what is present. This is true every time my husband can’t see past the milk to find what he is looking for in the fridge! 

When I look with expectation, I see all the frozen and dead plants demanding the work of cutting and removing as I lament the beauty I tried to create. Moving too quickly over what I expect to see, I fail to see the signs of life retreated to the plants’ centers and the tiny green shoots struggling to sprout under cover from the harmful elements. 

When I look with expectation, I see leaders who are too this or not-enough that, more concerned with agendas and power than people. I fail to see the system that shaped them, that clothed them with the wintry garments of pride, power, and a singular vision that disguises what is within. I fail to see signs of humanity present in their center. 

When I look with expectation, I see people short on values for family or education or self-responsibility. I see self-concerned privileged people blind to communal responsibility and love of neighbor. I fail to see the life and yearning buried deep beneath the snows of a system showered upon us all through relentless generational winters. I fail to see habits embraced for survival and protection from harmful elements that warm one and leave another in the cold. I fail to see through the snow so deep that mutual cooperation is essential to remove the weight of the freeze to expose and nurture new growth. 

When I look with expectation, I see what I expect. Open my eyes to see what is really present. Open my heart with compassion and wisdom. Open my might to do the work of removing the frozen winter of systems and survival to reveal the beloved community waiting to sprout. 

in this together…