HOW MUCH DO WE SEE?

"Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?" (Mark, 8.18).

What the eye does not see the heart does not grieve over. We have quoted the old saw innumerable times. But how often have we realized its deep truth in relation to our work for God? Or how often have we faced up to the searching implication of the familiar proverb with regard to our task in this dark day?

A good deal is being said about the moral laxity which is haunting our times. If finds newspaper headlines. It rears its ugly head in our factores and camps. It impudently whips our face in the street. But how many of our hearts really grieve over it?

We suffer the pains and restraints caused by the wickedness and pride of men. Our lives are dominated on the physical plane by the conflict which has plunged the entire world into unrest and sorrow. We say that it is all because men have forgotten God.

But do our hearts really grieve over these major disasters that have thrown the world into chaos? We try to peer into the future for wich a multitude of plans and blue prints are being provided, and we say, for the hundredth time, that unless men build on a better foudation we shall soon slip back into the old round of sowing winds and reaping of sowing winds and reaping whirlwinds. But do our hearts really grieve over the lack of certainty in sense of direction?

Do we feel as keenly about these things as we should, for instance, about the plight of a child with its foot caught in a gate? Do we feel we must push and pull and struggle and contrive and go on doing somethings, the best we can do, until we achieve release?

While I maintain constant watch for signs of concern - the constructive concern which acts effectively - I must confess that I see more of the shrugged shoulder than grieved heart. How much do we see? Lord, that we may receive our sight!

We do not allow the Divine point of view that shines forth steadily from the Bible to determine our own point view. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19.10).