This quote is from the story of Jesus healing a demon-possessed man. Read Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-38. It’s exciting stuff! No human could subdue this man and no chains could bind him. He lived in the cemetery, shrieking and screaming and cutting himself with shards of stone.
It’s no wonder this story resonates with me. As a psychologist in the prison system I was supposed to help inmates change. Change attitudes, change behavior, change perspectives. The following story is about a man who helped me change mine.
He could be any man or woman “on the margins” of society, created in the image of God and deserving of respect. He was Legion, and I was a self-righteous Pharisee.
Wearing my fine clothes and best therapeutic expression I listened as he described how drugs had seduced him. I could see how crime, self-abuse and neglect had ravaged his body. I asked about his hands – black pigment burned white, and several fingers missing. Evidently, fearing he had killed a man, he had set himself on fire. His jumbled speech and blank stare betrayed early stages of dementia.
After he left my office I glibly thanked God for the rare privilege of working “with men like him.” Elevating myself further I thought, “Jesus walked with men like him, Jesus talked to men like him, and I get to work with men like him.”
Then the Spirit grabbed me by the scruff of my heart and reminded me that I, too, am just like him. No better, no more loved by God, and no more deserving of the freedom that only comes by knowing Him.
I remember absolutely nothing of my comments to him. (Please, God, let me have been a blessing). He died two weeks later never knowing how our brief encounter would forever affect my perspective—and now yours.
Father, prejudice and pride overshadow our freedom to be light in dark places. Open our hearts so we can see ourselves and others through Your eyes. Amen
Sandra Milholland
It is a constant battle to "see" like Jesus sees. My pride and blindness or so subtle. Thank you for this.
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