How God Sees Us by Kara McNamara , Precious Blood Volunteer Alumna
In my work for the past two years at an after school program for at-risk teenage boys , I got to see my students at their very best , at their screaming , fighting worst , and at every emotional stop in between . They certainly saw my full range of days too ! I saw them go through hard times , saw them achieve great honors , saw them demonstrate resilience and ownership over their lives , and saw them hurl ugly words at other children when they were hurting too badly to control themselves .
I also , every so often , would have a luminous moment with a student in which I thought , “ This moment , right now , is exactly how God sees this child all of the time .” I can think of an example in which one of the boys ( who had been in foster care from a very young age and generally held himself apart from other people ) celebrated his 18 th birthday with us . We got him a cake with his name on it and sang to him and cheered his name ( some of the students also tried to give birthday punches when I wasn ’ t looking ). He was such a reserved , quiet young man , but in that moment , he couldn ’ t bite back his smile any longer , he couldn ’ t hold in the bright light inside him , and he let us see love and joy in his eyes . He quietly thanked everyone and mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like , “ Love you guys .”
In looking at the transformation of this young man for those fleeting moments , I can remember thinking , “ This is why it ’ s so easy for God to love us .” He must see us like this all of the time , with all of the potential for such good on full display .
In considering that moment , I was brought to thinking about all of the times that I ’ ve seen people at their best . Those moments are so inspiring , when
16 • The New Wine Press • February 2017
Precious Blood Volunteers
you can see the purpose and joy living in a person . And I also thought about all the times I didn ’ t allow people to be their best or didn ’ t try to find their Creator in them . I missed so much beauty and joy in those missed opportunities !
Kara McNamra during her Precious Blood Volunteer term in New Mexico
In times of lack of unity and tension as we are seeing now on a large scale , we as Precious Blood people know that we must seek reconciliation . As an initial step towards this , I am recommitting to seek Christ in those I meet , to encourage those around me to be the best version of themselves , and to recognize my own identity as God ’ s creation when I ’ m not at my best . If we could even begin to see each other as God sees us , our world could be a place of such healing and love , not division and hopelessness . If we can find that commonality , we can then begin to do the hard work that must come to address pain and inequality : standing in the margins , holding steadfast as peacemakers in the midst of tension , and starting the work of realizing God ’ s vision for the human family and environment .
After all , as Mother Teresa shared , “ If we have no peace , it is because we have forgotten we belong to each other .” I hope you ’ ll join me in working and praying for reconciliation and recognition of God ’ s presence in those around us . W