Choose to See
Gaining perspective on the struggles and suffering of others
By Kacie Chase
“Hi. My name is Kacie, and I’m a child of God.”
This is how we introduce ourselves at the local Celebrate Recovery meetings each week in my West Louisville community. All of us introduce ourselves like this because every single one of us has known hurt, shame, and rejection, and many have experienced serious forms of abuse. The reminder that we are children of God is an essential reminder of who we truly are.
My family and I live in what some consider the “bad part of town,” a place that often gets associated with brokenness and hardship. Personally, I can’t say I’ve known great suffering, injustice, or abuse. However, I can say one thing: my willingness to see injustice and suffering around me has changed my life.
No One Is No One
Tucked inside the book of Luke, there is a story about a widow who has lost her only son. At that point in history, the world was largely patriarchal. It would have been nearly impossible for a woman like this to support herself without a husband or any sons. But in Luke 7:13-15 the Bible tells us, “When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.”
What most stands out to me is that Jesus saw her. Jesus was a busy man. In fact, He had just healed the son of a prominent official, and this woman was no one compared to him. But in Jesus’ eyes, no one is no one. He saw her pain and her suffering. He saw that she would be left destitute and desperate. He was unwilling to leave her there. So, first He saw her, and then He acted.
There is real suffering and injustice all around us. But many of us live as if there is none. We drive to our places of work, we spend all day with people in similar life situations to our own, and then we drive to our homes and fill our evenings with happy date nights, kids’ activities, and Bible study groups. None of those things are bad in and of themselves. But if we fill our lives with so much busyness and comfort that we no longer see the injustices of our world, then we have entirely lost the transforming, radical nature of the faith Jesus displayed in the New Testament.
Stop and See
For my family, the first step toward seeing suffering was to move to West Louisville. Our neighbors, our Bible study attendees, and our Celebrate Recovery family are people who are very familiar with suffering and injustice. But we never would have engaged these people or the heavy burdens they carry if we weren’t willing to put aside our comfort and share our life with theirs.
You may be tempted to think, “Those people just need to work harder. They need to get a real job. They need to...” But until you see your neighbors as Jesus sees them, you will never notice the children who are being abused by parents with mental illness, or kids growing up alone because of a parent’s addiction, or a lack of quality education and “real” jobs in areas of poverty. Until you see with Jesus’ eyes, you might forget how many people cannot afford access to the things we often take for granted—things like childcare, healthcare, and vehicles.
Instead of filling our days with all the activity, let’s stop long enough to take a look around, long enough to see the people around us. Not just our friends, but those in the margins. See the immigrant that is trying to make it in a new country. See the child in foster care who feels rejection and shame. See the adult who is struggling to keep their alcoholism at bay. Jesus sees them all, and through faith in Him all can become the children of God. You’ll be amazed at what you see when you choose to see like Jesus did.