A new "way of seeing"

Tomorrow we leave for Jamaica and I am torn. On the one hand, I want to be completely open to the experience and not have any expectations. I want to be expectant, but let go of my expectations. On the other hand, I certainly have expectations. Mostly, I am praying that my perspective will be changed by my time in Jamaica—my perspective on the poor, the world, God, myself. In short, I am hoping for a new “way of seeing.” Perhaps it’s my recent reading of Julian of Norwich and her emphasis that we must learn to see as God sees. Reading Julian called to mind something John Cusick often said when I heard him preach in Chicago—that we sin because we don’t see ourselves the way God sees us. John and Julian both agree that God’s way of seeing is love. I’m hoping my time in Jamaica will “open my eyes” to this way of seeing. This is my expectation, but who knows what God has in store for me, for us, for Mustard Seed? We’ll have to wait and “see.”

-Douglas Leal