Luke 24:35-48
We think of witnessing as either a legal term involving crimes and court, or a religious term, involving raised hands and shouts of Amen. The root word, wit, in English is old, and links the idea of seeing and knowing and understanding together as one act. You need to have been there and experienced the situation or event firsthand. It’s not enough to be there though. The dictionary then says you have to describe what you saw and heard.
I’m sure this has happened to you… you hear someone else describe an event or situation that you also witnessed and you think, It didn’t happen like that! While we may be exposed to the same initial stimuli, our brain has to interpret it in one way or another in order to make sense of it. If not, the event or situation would fall out of our head because it would have had nothing to stick to. That’s when stories start to differ.
In Luke’s Gospel account today, He opens the minds of His disciples so they can understand all they heard and saw. Similarly, to accurately understand what we physically see and hear, we need the Lord to open our minds. I don’t know about you, but I tend to ask the Lord for help in understanding a situation after I have misunderstood it and subsequently, botched it up.
When I do remember to ask Him for clarity of vision, I tend to realize that there are many factors of the event or situation that I cannot see and do not know. This knowledge somehow helps me detach from my own perspective, an action which is required for an open mind. When we comprehend that we are viewing an incomplete picture, we realize our reaction and interpretation is yet another element which contributes to the overall work. Experience tells me this leads us to judge less and respond in a more loving and compassionate way.
Journal Questions
- Recount a time when you botched things up because you did not accurately interpret what you had seen and heard. Recall a time when you asked for the Lord’s help to understand what you had witnessed.
- Compare and contrast your understanding and emotional responses to the two experiences you just explored, focusing on nature and character of the Lord’s help your ability to understand most fully.
Writing to Pray 