The opening text will come from a book by Abraham Joshua Heschel (God in Search of Man - A Philosophy of Judaism). As you are able to see by the title, the language may be a bit dated and therefore, I will, when able, make the language inclusive.
The wonders are daily with us, and yet “the miracle is not recognized by (the person) who experiences it.” Its apprehension is not a matter of physical perception. “Of what avail is an open eye, if the heart is blind?” One may see many things without observing them - “(a person’s) ears are open, but does not hear.”
“The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear not.’” (Ezekiel)
“Alas for people that they see but do not know what they see, they stand and do not know on what they stand.”
There is nothing new in these words. Throughout the teaching of Jesus we hear quite the same word lifted up before the people. “If the heart is blind”…we are in trouble. There is no chance to see how our God can make the impossible - possible. If we are people who simply live by evidence stacked up to support what is and what is not to be possible, then we will miss the great adventures that have made generations of people look at all of life differently and thus, change the face of everything. There are many stories of people who appeared to have nothing and yet they lived as though they saw much more in their lives. They were able to see the foundation, the rock that was beneath them and always supporting them. On the other hand, there are those who have much that they and others can see and yet they cannot see anything beyond the surfaces of their lives…and they often dry up rather than blossom and create a garden of hopefulness that has deep roots and will provide joy for many ages to come.
Connection: It doesn’t take much to ignore the great gift of life on which we stand – that gift that never ends. Therefore, it will do us all well to keep opening our hearts to the Word that reminds us of the place we have for all time even as we go about the most mundane tasks of this day.
O Lord, you along give us sight and hearing so that the days of our lives may be filled with the wonder of your blessed Reign and we may take notice and praise you as such wonders become known to us even in such simply things as the breaking of the bread. Amen.
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