"What do you see?”
That’s the question Jesus asked the man in Mark 8. He had been healed of blindness, but the process wasn’t complete. The question was part of the healing.
"What do you see?”
The Vision Construction Team in particular, and the Presbytery of Denver in general, are being asked the same question. Vision is about learning to see. It’s a process as well as a practice.
The Bible is full of stories of people learning to see, and I’ve found myself going back to them. One person had great vision, but it was incomplete. He accurately saw the armies against him but needed prayer to see what he was missing (2 Kings 6). I get that. I’m aware of the problems and perils surrounding our Presbytery; I’m not blind. But Vision is more than seeing accurately what is apparent, it’s also learning to see what isn’t. It takes prayer- and practice.
Elijah’s servant was told to go up the hill and report what he saw- and keep going up. There was a drought, and he was to watch for God’s deliverance (1 Kings 18). After the seventh trip, he finally reported seeing one small cloud on the horizon. He was told to tell others it was time to invest in heavy rain gear, and good luck trying to outrun what was coming. The practice of persistent looking helped his capacity to see- and respond.
We are practicing persistent watching, too. I’m reminded that Vision it is less about what we create and more about sharpening our capacities to perceive. We don’t create our vision any more than we create our mission. Christ has a mission and that mission creates us.*(1) Our task is not so much to construct a vision for ourselves as be constructed by Christ’s vision for us.
"What do you see?”
Vision is a corporate practice. On the Vision Construction Team, I’m surrounded by creative people, faithful to what God has done, and anticipating what God might yet do. What is true for one group, is true for the whole Denver Presbytery. At our March 23 Assembly, we will practice sharpening our vision, together. Have you heard of “Bright-Spotting?” (2) It’s a practice that will expand our capacity to see, and attune us for what may be coming. It’s helped me in the process and practice of Vision. Perhaps it will help all of us do the same.
Sometimes vision is about catching a glimpse of what God is yet to do. Sometimes it is correcting our capacity to perceive what is right in front of us.
What do YOU see?
With Gratitude,
Rev. Russ Kane
Vision Construction Team
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1. Jurgen Moltmann, The Spirit and the Kingdom
2. This is a practice described in Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Check out the latest information from the Vision Construction Team (VCT). Click here to read our report to the March Assembly on some things we see so far. A link to that report along with the “Two Loops Life Cycle” and bright spotting chapter from Switch (2010) are here.