Our local public radio is KQED FM. I listen on my way to work, running errands, and even while I am working (as long as I am not concentrating on writing music). I usually tune out the sponsor spots, but one keeps popping up for an HMO. “Not everything broken shows up on the X-ray.”

This reminds me of all the faces I see every weekend during our liturgies. It’s easy to just see an assembly, and not a group of individual human souls, each carrying their own memory, their own sorrows and struggles. There is a universe inside each person I see. Whenever I feel distracted or not fully invested in ministry, I remind myself of this. At any given time, someone could be receiving exactly what God wants them to have. Grace. Forgiveness. Encouragement. At any given time, these blessings are available to me, as well.

We only see surfaces. God sees what is invisible, and all that we hide within our heart.