Still In the Season of Seeing

It is mysterious how often we see something for the first time, when we have seen that same something many times before. It was there but we barely noticed it; we did not “see” it. I was reminded of such an experience this week when in one of the regular lectionaries I consult, I noticed May 23 was the day the Baal Shem Tov (c. 1700-1760) the title given to the founder of Hasidic Judaism, born in Ukraine, was remembered.  

The Baal Shem Tov

In my studies of world religions and their founders in graduate school, I noted the Baal Shem Tov but that was it. This week I finally “saw” the Baal Shem Tov, and this seeing was the result of reading one of his little reflections: “The world is full of wonders and miracles, but man takes his little hand and covers his eyes and sees nothing.” I know that this time, seeing the Baal Shem Tov was more than seeing with the eyes, for the short reflection moved me and I “saw” with my heart, my mind, and my soul. And the Rabbi’s words made me wonder why I might cover my eyes and “see nothing.”

This new seeing helped me with events of this week, which has brought us to the Ascension of the Lord (Thursday, May 26), coming 40 days after the Resurrection. The first chapter of Acts tells the story of the Ascension, and what Jesus was doing in the period between his Resurrection and Ascension to prepare Peter and the Apostles for his physical absence. He reminded them that [they would] “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1: 8). It was on the Day of Pentecost that Peter and the Apostles were “filled with the Holy Spirit” and from that day forward began to teach, heal and proselytize in the name of Jesus and build the Christian Church (cf. Acts 2).

As we come closer to the Day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirt on Sunday, June 5, we begin to realize that this “Season of Seeing” is becoming a Season of Discovering and Experiencing. Now, it is not only a question of what we do about what we see or don’t see, or what we discover and experience.  Now, we see and because we see, we discover and experience. We look. We act. We do. Or do we? And how much do we see? And do we see enough, are we willing to look hard and ask the important questions, one of which is, “what are we missing”?

Ronald Rolheiser

Here is a story from Canadian theologian, spiritual writer, and academician, Ronald Rolheiser:

Once upon a time there was a town which was built beyond the bend in a river. One day some is its children were playing by the river when they spotted 3 bodies floating in the water. They ran to get help and the townsfolk quickly pulled the bodies from the river. One body was dead, so they buried it. One was alive, but quite ill, so they put it in the hospital. The third was a healthy child, so they placed it in a family who cared for it and took it to school. From that day on, each day several bodies came floating around the bend in the river and, each day, the good charitable townsfolk pulled them out and tended to them—burying the dead, caring for the sick, finding homes for the children, and so on. This went on for years, and the townspeople came to expect that each day would bring its quota of bodies…but, during those years, nobody thought to walk up the river, beyond the bend, and check out why, daily, those bodies came floating down the river (from newspaper column, “In Exile,” April 15, 1991, reprinted in Essential Spiritual Writings, p. 183). 

To be “filled with the Holy Spirit”, the reminder of which comes again on the Day of Pentecost, is to be able and willing to “see” the whole picture, something the good townsfolk in the story could not do. These good people saw so much and cared so much but they could not see enough to “walk up the river.” They did so much but they did not do enough. If only they could have seen that. Sometimes the whole picture is “around the bend,” and sometimes that picture is within what we look at every day with more than eyes. The Baal Shem Tov and his little reflection is a reminder to look beyond the eyes, so we don’t miss anything.

— Father Peter