By Jenna Ebener
A refection
In my most recent period of desolation, I have been trying to see God in others no matter the situation. I have realized it is easiest for me to see God when I am with my students. Just in the past week, I responded to students who were engaging in self-injurious behaviors, acting extremely aggressive towards me, destroying everything in sight, and seeking me out for comfort from their depression and anxiety.
In each of these situations, I did not negatively judge any of these students. Instinctively, I see God in these students; I do not have to think before responding with love and compassion. I can meet them where they are at and then work to give them safer tools. I have moments of feeling overwhelmed but I know I am where God needs me.
The challenge has been discovering how to generalize that same attitude of love towards those outside of my school. I think one reason it is so easy for me to do it at school is our students’ innocence. Their behaviors are not intentional or malicious. They are simply doing what they can to get their needs met; they do not know (yet) a safer way to communicate their needs and wants.
Outside of my school, I think it is easy to assume that others do know better and should act in different ways. However, we all have complex backgrounds that shape our actions each day. Our tolerance ebbs and flows throughout the day, depending on what is happening in our lives and only God knows the full story.
We need the eyes of God to see people as they were made — good and inherently worthy. I envision it as the difference between putting in eye drops and putting in contacts. When I do not have my contacts in and put in eye drops, there is a moment before I blink when I can see perfectly clear. Yet, as soon as I blink, I go back to blurriness. When I put my contacts in, I can see clearly all of the time. Similarly, we might have a small glimpse of what is going on in someone’s life but, unless we put on the lens of God, we might lose sight of the goodness behind every person.
So how do we put on that lens of God? I think the animated movie “Wild Robot” gives a great starting point. The movie is about a robot who crash-landed in the middle of a forest. She is programmed to help others with tasks to make their life easier, but the animals do not understand or appreciate her skills. She is different and so they fear her. However, she does not let their rejection stop her from her mission to help others and ends up saving the animals during a time of great need. Her act of kindness had a ripple effect on every inhabitant of that forest. Enemies became friends and during the robot’s time of need, they came together to protect her, just as she had protected them.
Though it is not a spiritual movie, I cannot help but compare the robot’s actions to God. The robot saw God in all living beings — she saw that they were all deserving of love, even the predators. For we reap what we sow -— hatred sows hatred and loves sows love. So where do we start? With small acts of kindness. One little thing at a time. Only God knows how far the ripples will go, but we can trust that there are ripples. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
(Jenna Ebener, a graduate of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, is a social worker at a school in Colorado for students with a combination of medical, cognitive and behavior disabilities. She relies on God every day to aid her.)
