Can you see me?

​In Genesis, the bible tells us that God created the earth and the seas. And after he'd created them, the bible tells us God saw that it was good.

The earth wasn't good because God said it was. It was good because God saw that it was.

And so the Genesis story goes. God continues to create, to add to his image of earth, to include humans, and then he steps back and sees that it is all good. Every bit of it.

I think God was putting in place a necessary order there. We need to see something as good before we will ever believe that it is.

I was at a conference yesterday about trauma informed schools. I've attended and spoke at dozens of these meetings the last 5 years. I left believing something stronger than I believed it before I attended - something I already believed pretty strongly - and that is the heart of being trauma informed is understanding that people need to be seen before they will ever hear.

God created us to have our goodness rooted in him seeing us as good. And - in you and I seeing each other that way.

You will likely not be a good teacher to a child if you aren't willing to see the goodness in them first. In many cases that's especially critical because they can't begin to see it in themselves. Things that happened to them years ago or weeks ago or even just a night ago - these things have left them feeling like they are less than good.

Kids who don't believe you see any good in them aren't interested in being told about math or science.

Just like a Christian who doesn't believe God sees any good in them isn't interested in being told about the ten commandments.

We were created to be seen first before ever being told. Babies come into the world needing to know they are seen as a first step to trusting what they are told.

If you can't see me I can't hear you - is sort of how it goes.

God didn't ask us to trust that we are good because he said so. He asked us to trust it because he saw so.

Our kids are asking the same of us.

We are all asking it, really, of one another.

Can you see me? Can you see the good in me?

If the answer is yes, the door has been opened to listening.

If the answer is yes, you see what God sees.