Do some really see the eternal?

You know someone, right?  Or do you?  Someone who seems to see what’s really going on?  Are there really people who can focus their eyes and minds on eternal things, while most of us only see what is temporary?  These two scriptures, which have been so challenging, make me ask.

2 Corinthians 4:16 “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Mark 8: 23-25  “And Jesus took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that Jesus put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.”

Do we really know people who seem to see each person clearly, not like trees walking around? (  https://www.skipburke.com/a_fix_for_my_gps_life_view/  )  Are there people whose very identities are not associated with routine behavior or standard talents and accomplishments?  You have your own answer to those questions; mine is a resounding “YES“.  I will tell you about one such person.

I tell you this, not to call attention to the individual, but to call attention to attitudes, behaviors, and characteristics. 

I witness these things that are truly being lived out by someone who seems to receive and obey the continuing revelation of light through a deep relationship with Jesus Christ.  I hesitate to identify him, because he would not appreciate the attention. So, if you know Gerald (Bobo) Willis, please don’t tell him.

Bobo (name given when his first granddaughter arrived) Willis is my father-in-law.  From what I hear, most men have difficulty with their fathers-in-law.  Not me.  Not Bobo.  ( I actually recorded these observations to read at his special birthday celebration a few years ago. )

Happy Birthday to One Who Sees the Eternal!

As your son-in-law I have had the advantage of seeing you in ways not all of your acquaintances have, from close up and from afar. I have always heard the term “guilt by association”…but for over forty years I have personally experienced the opposite…extra grace because of this association.  From the beginning, there have been hundreds of times when people have treated me like I was “something special” because I was identified as your son-in-law.

When I think of why you and your life has so obviously meant so much to so many people, I know:

• It is not because you just break out singing in full voice while walking down a crowded mall. In fact, that can be embarrassing.
• It is not because you are good help at physical things…you have helped us move before. I still recite with fear your theory of moving…”any piece of furniture will go through any size opening if you can get it moving fast enough.” Not a good idea.
• It is not because you taught us how to use tools or grow things…you don’t even own any decent tools; and your idea for growing tomato plants was to tape them to your brick wall with duct tape.

No, I think it is:

• Partly because you trust us all more than we deserve to be trusted…
  • I can still hardly believe you trusted me with your daughter when you did…what a risk…
  • You talk to us about things that matter… with the expectation of a level of goodness in us that you seem to see…even when we aren’t feeling it ourselves.
  • We feel this level of trust and we want to live up to it when we leave you.
• Partly because you make us feel better about ourselves than we deserve to feel…
  • I have witnessed countless offers of your encouragement…walks up the aisle of your church would take at least 20 minutes as you spoke words of encouragement to the many who stopped you hungry for those words.
  • I have often been the recipient of this undeserved encouragement…
    • During rounds of golf
    • During many days when we shared the final thirty minutes at the beach after all the family had deserted us
    • When so often you introduced me as the gift God gave your daughter…even though you and I both knew who was the gift and who really was the recipient
• Partly it is because when you interact with any of us, we know we have your full attention…and your total acceptance.
  • I have personally experienced it countless times.
  • I have witnessed it in your dealings with children, teenagers, young adults, and the elderly…black, white, long hair, short hair, pierced parts, blurry eyes, baggy pants or shirt and tie.
  • The level of attention you show is rare. Those piercing eyes invite full disclosure, while the degree of acceptance you convey is without equal.

You see…it is obvious to us that this Acceptance, this Encouragement, this Trust really is Kingdom stuff.  It is the unseen stuff; eternal stuff.

And I am sure that the reason you and your life has meant so much to so many people…is because from every encounter with you…whether just a handshake, where you pull us in close…or a tender moment you share during a song you are sincerely singing…or a marriage counseling session you and Betty conducted…or just watching the sun go down at the beach…From every encounter with you, we leave possessing more of The Heavenly Father than we had before. 

Happy birthday, Bobo!

Take a few minutes…think about a person or the people in your life who live like they see the eternal.  I feel sure that they are people whose eyes are being touched again and again by the Master; so that they see each person along their path clearly…as much more than” trees walking.”  They are probably people like Bobo.

You know someone, right?

Would people who know you think of you that way?

Do you pray, like I do, to become that someone?

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