A few days ago during a lunch time conversation with my wife and mutual friend, my wife shared an interesting story. She was listening to NPR and they were interviewing Kirk Franklin. As Kirk shared about his life, he said something along these lines, “I became visible when I sat down behind a piano.”
Visibility.
This week I have not been able to shake this word. The reality of being visible seems to be like a really good word to describe where our greatest angst and our greatest identity can be traced. Let me say this, when I speak of visibility, I am not talking about public and big and famous, but something more personal. To be visible means that you are ‘seen’ by others. To be seen is to be valued having a significant verse to contribute to the great drama called life. Our identity comes from knowing we are known/seen.
There are many reasons this feels so real and thick this week. I don’t have the words to describe those, nor do I have the emotional capacity to delve into them. I will say this:
When you feel invisible, you feel alone.
When you feel insignificant, you feel invisible.
Invisibility = feeling not known or appreciated.
Invisibility left unattended leads to dark places.
We all desire to be visible, known, appreciated. When we do not take our question of visibility to the Source of Life, we go astray. When we are outside of our Creator’s ways/paths, it is hard to properly see our ourselves as known/loved.
So many other things that could/should be said, but I will simply conclude with two questions, quote and a final charge:
Questions:
Do you feel visible or invisible? Why?
Those closest to you, your family, friends and those you see on a regular basis, do they feel visible or invisible? Why?
Quote:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
― Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles”
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The Charge
Know that you are known and are visible – find your verse, find your life. Look to the Creator.
Make a practice of naming others visibility – let them know that they are seen and known.