Tonight I was able to share one of my all time favorite movies with my sweet little girl. Hook is a movie that I can watch again and again and always find something new that captures my heart.
As we were watching this scene Becca asked, "What is that boy doing Mama?" I told her to just wait. Finally, with great joy and excitement, she said "He SEES Peter Mama!!"
It took him a few minutes of exploring and poking but the moment he stretched Peter's face into a smile...that is when he really saw the essence of Peter Pan. That essence was hidden, buried under the layers of adult. It took a bit of work to get to it but that little boy was patient. That little boy was present to Peter.
In Acts chapter 3 there is a story of Peter and John going to Temple to pray. On the way there they were approached by a crippled beggar asking for money. The Scripture says, "a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple(Acts 3:2b). Day after day this man approached people for money. This was how he made his living.
If you spend any time at all in a larger city you will notice that there are a lot of people who are begging on the streets. For many residents of cities those who are begging become a part of the white noise of the city. The sounds of traffic, pigeons strutting along the sidewalks, the metallic statue guys and the beggars; all a part of the fabric of the city but nothing that really catches your attention because they are always there.
I imagine this is what most days were like for the man lame from birth who sat outside of the Temple at the gate called Beautiful. In and out people went all day long, focused on getting into the Temple to pray and to worship and out to get back to their daily lives. But then one day something incredible happened....
"Peter and John looked at him intently...(3:4a)"
They looked at him...intently!
There was in fact a healing miracle that happened in this story and that was pretty great but before that miracle could happen Peter and John needed to be present to this man. A man that was so often overlooked. A man who had probably resigned himself to this life of being carried to the Temple each day and watching the people rush passed looking over and even through him.
Healing begins with seeing.
Restoration begins with seeing.
Seeing is the begining of miracles.
Presence is the beginning of miracles.
What a beautiful thing to be seen. For someone to intimately and lovingly poke and smush and spread our faces into a smile and say "There you are!"
I am grateful to be seen by you, friend.
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