The uninvisible man
Middle-aged women in the entertainment industry battle a common foe. They frequently complain of becoming invisible. A recent magazine article, quoting a well-known actress in her 50s, reported, “When you’re walking down the street, you get bumped into, people slam doors in your face – they just don’t notice you. Somehow, you just vanish” (The Week, Aug.16-23). But such a complaint is not reserved for famous women, or for the middle-aged. People in all walks of life face similar struggles with feeling invisible. Are door-slamming scenes inevitable? Not even close.
Try looking at moments of apparent “invisibility” from a spiritual perspective. Look from a God’s-eye view. God is the all-seeing. He is the all-knowing. He never blinks. God perpetually beholds and continually cherishes His creation in its harmony, and in its unblemished perfection. You, in your true spiritual nature, never drift toward obsolescence, never invite erasure. If anyone holds an outdated view of you, you can prayerfully insist that when a view doesn’t parallel how the all-knowing knows you, it amounts to nothing at all. There are no other options. The more you know yourself as God knows you, the more misperceptions of you wither. Ultimately, there is no way for you to be mis-known because there is no way for the heavenly Parent to mis-know His own child. Being overlooked by others – and therefore being invisible to them – grows less common with these realizations. Others needn’t be blind to you. You needn’t be blind to others.
Such prayer is timelessly relevant. Think of Jesus. The Bible includes an account of his healing that hinged on spiritual seeing. It involved a woman burdened with a hemorrhaging condition for a dozen years (see Luke 8:43-48). A surrounding crowd probably made it nearly impossible for her to do anything beyond briefly touching the Master’s garment. In that instant, who saw what? Did the disciples miss this moment? Were they, perhaps, temporarily oblivious to the healing Christ and to the woman’s true nature? Did they look right through the “invisible” woman? More important, what did the Master see in that moment? He addressed the woman as “daughter.” Did he see her relationship to God, the Father?
The founder of the Christian Science Sentinel as well as The Christian Science Monitor, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote in her primary work, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”: “Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God’s own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick” (pp. 476-477). Some words in this passage might be considered “seeing” words. Beheld. Appeared. Saw. View. This small list hints at a large fact. See spiritually, as these words suggest you can, and you won’t be downgraded to invisible man or invisible woman. The Father sees you. He cherishes you as His pricelessly beautiful offspring. You cannot be invisible.
From an editorial in the Christian Science Sentinel.
