What do you see?

     Have you ever stopped to just watch people?  Have you ever wondered what is going on in their life?  Often times when we see people we may become annoyed by what they are doing and possibly even mad at them for some reason.  They may be an inconvenience in our little world or perhaps they just get in our way.  After all everything centers on us anyway?  Yet, in order for us to truly be able to share the message of Christ with the world we need to see people through a different set of eyes.  Stephen Covey in his highly successful book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People tells a story that reveals the need to see people differently.  Covey writes:

     I remember a min-paradigm shift I experienced one Sunday morning on a subway in New York.  People were sitting quietly - some reading newspapers, some lost in thought, some resting with their eyes closed.  It was a calm, peaceful scene.
     Then, suddenly, a man and his children entered the subway car.  The children were so loud and rambunctious that instantly the whole climate changed.  They sat down next to me and their father closed his eyes, apparently oblivious to the situation.  The children were yelling back and forth, throwing things, even grabbing people's papers.  It was very disturbing.  And yet, the man sitting next to me did nothing.
     It was difficult not to feel irritated.  I could not believe that he could be so insensitive as to let his children run wild like that and do nothing about it, taking no responsibility at all.  It was easy to see that everyone else on the subway felt irritated too.
     So, finally, with what I felt was unusual patience and restraint, I turned to him and said, "Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people, I wonder if you couldn't control them a little more?"
     The man lifted his gaze as if to come to a consciousness of the situation for the first time and said softly, "Oh, you're right.  I guess I should do something about it.  We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago.  I don't know what to think, and I guess they don't know how to handle it either."
     Can you imagine what I felt at that moment?  My paradigm shifted.  Suddenly, I saw things differently, and because I saw things differently I thought differently, I felt differently, I behaved differently.  My irritation vanished.  I didn't have to worry about controlling my attitude or my behavior; my heart was filled with the man's pain.  Feelings of sympathy and compassion flowed freely.
     "Your wife just died?  Oh, I'm sorry!  Can you tell me about it?  What can I do to help?" 
     Everything changed in an instant.

     Before we can truly bring meaning and relevance to the people we must begin seeing them differently than we did before.  Let me ask you again.  What do you see when you see people?  Do you see people as an irritation or someone that just gets in your way?  Or do you see them through the eyes of Christ and have compassion for them?