Do You See What I See?

 

In a melodic chain of increasing awareness, a message gets passed from the night wind, to a little lamb, to a shepherd boy, to a mighty king, to the people everywhere.

You probably know the song, written in 1962 by a husband and wife team of Regney and Shayne, made most famous by none other than the Christmas crooner himself, Bing Crosby.  And while the official title of the song is "Do You Hear What I Hear?", the framed piece I put up every year captures the phrase from the first verse, 'do you see what I see?'

Ironically, the answer is likely 'no.'  

Such is the nature of human perception.  Most of the time, and perhaps I could be so bold to say, all of the time, how things appear to us are not exactly how they appear to someone else.  It's a wider study for sure.  Just a quick Google search yields a variety of articles that differentiate between reality and perception, and how uniquely our understanding of things passes through a complex 'grid' of  experiences, beliefs, and culture, to name a few of the factors.

I am not entirely sure what motivated the lyrics of the song, but there does seem to be that sense of things.  What the wind sees or hears or knows is somehow communicated to the people everywhere, and each link in the perception chain is needed to get the message through.

To the point, I think perception would very much dictate how we might respond to such common "seasonal" concepts as:

The greetings "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays."

When it's proper to start decorating for the season.

What "Santa" may or may not have left under the tree.

Where you'll be when you say, "I'll be home for Christmas."

"Peace on earth."

"Emmanuel - God with us."

"Let every heart prepare Him room."

Jesus' family's refugee status as they flee to Egypt.

Or....put your own spin on things here.

And that's just the Christmas stuff.

Just like I could not keep my own reflection out of the picture above, I know that my own perspectives are reflected in all the ways I interact with my world, not just at Christmas, but all the time.

So.  

My personal meditations lead me to two things today.

I need to listen.

How essential it is to keep in mind that there are other ways to look at things.  The sheer arrogance of assuming I have all the information about anything is sickening enough to keep me humbly attuned to the hearts of my brothers and sisters all over this planet.  At least I hope it is.  I have so much to learn. So much I don't know.

And.

I need to speak.

My voice matters, and I dare not keep silent lest a piece of the story is lost.  My life's experience, both the privilege and abuse of it, means something in the bigger picture of our collective understanding.  What I believe, my deep personal convictions, my passions to see everyone actualize the potential for which they were created, my heart's desire to connect deeply with the Divine, it counts for something.  And if I refuse to use my voice, if any one of us refuses to use our voice, something essential is missing. 

The song that inspired this reflection isn't particularly Christian or religious.  It's not even all that old, as Christmas carols go.  It was introduced more as a pop song than anything churchy, if I understand the origin story right.  But I like it, for all the reasons I've just used my voice to describe.

"Said the king to the people everywhere

'Listen to what I say

Pray for peace people everywhere..

A Child, a Child, sleeping in the night

He will bring us goodness and light

He will bring us goodness and light."