Eyes to See

EYES TO SEE

,םָלוֹעָה ךֶלֶמ וּניֵהֹלֱא הוהי הָתּאַ ךוּרָבּ .םיִרְוִע ַחֵקוֹפּ Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Majesty of the world, who opens our eyes from blindness.

LEARNING

We all have blind spots. The founder of the Hasidic movement, the Ba’al Shem Tov, said, “Our eyes are constantly seeing great and awesome things, only we don’t know what we are seeing.” Indeed the real seeing actually happens in our brains. About half the human brain is dedicated to vision and seeing. Yet seeing what is right in front of us can’t be taken for granted. Hagar, mother of Ishmael, was losing hope of finding water with which to keep her son alive in the desert. “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water” (Genesis 21:19). While she was not blind, God widened Hagar’s perspective so that she could recognize and see what she needed to see.

REFLECTION

Like Hagar, what might we not be seeing that’s hiding in plain sight? How might we open our eyes and yearn prayerfully to see what’s been right before us all along: the people we love along with those we’ve neglected, the words that have not been said, the unexpressed needs, and the undiscovered joys?

INSPIRATION

A group of American schoolchildren was asked to list what they thought were the present Seven Wonders of the World. While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student had not yet finished her paper. She asked her if she was having trouble with her list. The little girl replied, “Yes, a little. I couldn’t quite make up my mind because there are so many. I think the Seven Wonders of the World are: to see, to hear, to touch, to taste, to feel, to laugh, to love.” The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wondrous.16

PERSONAL PRAYER

I know my eyes are not open enough to see the miracles You do for me, each day. Please give me the sight to see the beauty that surrounds me: Let me truly see my children, give me the eyes to appreciate my husband. Allow me to feel fortunate – every day, anew. Please give me the strength and the power to see and understand what I cannot yet see.

— Daphna Kaminetsky, Modiin, Israel