Lord, Help Me to See Them as You Do

photo reprinted from here

When I think about God's Creation, my mind goes immediately to the splendor of a mountain range, the calm waters of a serene lake where the cry of a loon can be heard or the mighty ocean waves crashing on the rockbound coast. I do not so much consider humanity.

That's why reading the following quote by C.S. Lewis gave me pause:

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and
goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting
person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you
saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship or else a
horror and corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in
a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each
other to one or other of these destinations.

It may be easy to see the glory in a singer as she reaches that amazing note crystal clear and pure, but that person who walks around town collecting bottles as a livelihood and who is often caught bathrooming behind public buildings? Yes.

Lord, help me to see him as you do.

That nimwitted one who nearly caused an accident by pulling out in front of traffic? Yes.

Lord, help me to see her as you do.

That insolent teenager? Yes.

Lord, help me to see him as you do.

The tattooed mess of a girl with her jeans so low that it reveals a snake twisted about her spine? Yes.

Lord, help me to see her as you do.

I could go on and on... Lord, help me to see them as you do!

Whom might you include in a list of your own?

On the other hand, how easy is it to look upon a baby's face and feel the reverence for that life. And does it not strike you as horrific that so many babies are tossed aside?

"We can think about ourselves too much: who we are, what we aren't, how great, how horrible, how full of potential. But we can never think too often and too deeply about the welfare and potential and well-being of those around us — about the wonder they are. The value that's placed on human life is the litmus test of character and soul for an individual, a society, or a nation."
~ Janet Chester Bly

(emphasis my own)

"With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image." James 3:9