“Among you stands one whom you do not know.” (John 1: 26)
These words of John the Baptist have been echoing in my mind and heart for the last several weeks. In their historical meaning, John is telling the Israelites that the Messiah is now present among them, but they don’t yet see him or know him. Historically, Jesus had not yet made his presence and mission known. He was there, but not yet known or recognized.
Yet for me, these words have come to say so much more. They call me to hear them as I look at every person I meet, at every tree, flower, raindrop or squirrel to find the divinity hidden within. I know that the coming of God-made-flesh changed everything. I know that by his cross and resurrection, all creation has been made new, and carries the reality of Divinity mysteriously within itself. But do I really believe it? Do I see it? Or do I, like the Israelites, miss the reality because it does not come in the splashy form I might expect?
It is true that we do not really know even those we think we know best. Like the proverbial iceberg, what we see of each person is only a tiny fragment of their full being and personality. Given other circumstances, they might reveal depths of talent, gifts, woes or joys that we would never guess. What if we could let go of our preconceived ideas, our labels, our judgments of others, and look at them as though for the first time, with curiosity, openness and an eagerness to know the divinity within them? What if, just for today, I looked at each person I meet, or at one tree or flower or drop of rain and stood in wonder and heard again the Baptist’s words, “Among you stands one whom you do not know.”
Mary Diesbourg, CSJ