Reflections by Annette Roux, Retired Pastoral Associate
Take notice, you senseless ones among the people. Does he who fashioned the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see? - Psalm 94:8
One of our favorite superheroes is Spiderman. One of the best attributes about Spiderman is his spider-sense. Spider-sense gives Spiderman the amazing ability to sense imminent danger, and thereby take preemptive action to avoid or rectify calamity. Even under normal conditions, spider-sense enables Spiderman to navigate darkened rooms, instinctively avoiding obstacles and hazards. Spiders themselves are equipped with amazing sensory organs. They sense the slightest movement or vibration through hairs and tiny slits distributed over much of their body. A spider’s sensitivity to threat and danger is finely tuned. But we don’t have to be superheroes or spiders to sense when something is wrong. God created us with sensitive capabilities to notice and to have insight; to pay attention and to listen; to react and to be proactive. Much of the peril in which we find ourselves is due to our lack of sensitivity to what is imminently looming in our very presence. We often ignore the signs of danger along the road of our pursuits. We preoccupy ourselves with business as usual while we fail to pay attention to the handwriting on the wall. The crying of an infant is a sign that something is not right. But in certain impoverished countries, suffering infants stop crying and suffer in silence, because they sense that no one around them has the capability or the sensitivity to relieve their suffering. Our greatest human tragedy may well be the numbing of our God-given sensitivities.
Prayer: God, let me notice through your eyes. Let me pay attention through your ears. Let me love with your heart. Amen.
