Tinkerers and Visionaries

Have you ever felt that there is something you can see clearly or know truly that others fail to see?

Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, 'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.'- Luke 10:23-24

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus wants his disciples to know that what they have witnessed and what they have come to know through him is special.  Not everyone will be able to see clearly what you see, he tells them.

How many times have you experienced something like that, where the truth seems to be obvious to only you and no one around you?

There are times, I believe, when the Spirit gives us the ability to see what eludes many, a glimpse of the truth, an insight into what someone may be feeling deep inside, or what only a few can understand.

But just because something seems obvious to me, it doesn't mean I can understand it.  Clarity doesn't always come with depth of understanding.  Sometimes the wisdom it brings is just knowing it is so.

The disciples had just returned from a trip where they were able to cure the sick and cast out demons.  They had no idea how they were able to do these things.  They were simply amazed it was so.

I am reading Thunderstruck, a book about Marconi, the young man we credit with inventing wireless communication.

T say Marconi was an inventor may be a stretch, since he had no real understanding of the principles of physics, mathematics, or science.  He was a tinkerer, an experimenter, someone who simply believed he would eventually find the answer if he never stopped trying.

It was when he became arrogant about what he had accomplished that the scientific community turned against him.  They knew he had no understanding of what he was doing, yet, his persistence paid off.

Just because an answer comes easily to us, or a picture is clear, doesn't make us any smarter or wiser than those who fail to see what we see.  The gift that we are given that lets us see does not give us license to brag or show off.

Instead, I believe, we need to share the insight with others, without alienating them.  The gifts we are given are not ours, but God's.  And He gives them to us for a reason.  Perhaps we are the only ones who can carry His message to those who need it.

Perhaps, He knows that we are as stubborn and thickheaded as Marconi, and will keep at it until we find the truth.

So, I guess the message is that the tinkerers and visionaries in the world are not necessarily the smartest or sharpest, but instead, theirs is the gift of seeing what others cannot see and hearing what others cannot hear.

Their curse is the same.  If they try to laud it over others, they will be ignored, but if they find a way to be champions of the cause, they will probably find others willing to come along for the ride.

So, which are you?  Is there something you see that others fail to notice?  What will you do abou it?

More to come...