Seeing

The story of Abraham welcoming three strangers who are actually messengers from God is usually told to remind us of our obligation to welcome strangers. A few weeks ago, Rabbi Marc Margolius offered another interpretation. Because he was sitting at the entrance to the tent, said Margolius, Abraham had put himself in a position to see the strangers approach and to immediately offer his hospitality. His readiness was essential to his actions.

The passage in the Bible reads “…as he sat at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood over against him, and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door… “(Genesis 18. 1-2.)

In English, the verb “to see” has several meanings, including to perceive with the eyes, to be aware of, to imagine as a possibility, and to perceive the meaning or importance of. (Merriam Webster) No matter how we interpret “to see,” however, we should recognize that our “vision” is limited.

I once witnessed a violent altercation in a parking lot. When I gave my report, I discovered that other witnesses saw something different. Yet each of us believed that what we had seen with our own eyes was true.

It is easy to understand how physical perception may be limited. Your eyesight is sharper than mine. You were closer to the event. I was standing to the right; you were to the left. Awareness, imagination, and understanding are also limited, sometimes by preconceived ideas, sometimes by what is competing for our attention. A mundane example is that I often struggle with the New York Times word game Spelling Bee, convinced I have seen every word in the diagram. But if I leave it for a while and try again, new words appear. Of course, they were there all along, but I could not see them.

When confronted with a problem, I may quickly see a solution, but a colleague may see another possibility. If I do not make myself ready to accept someone else’s point of view before I act, I am limiting the possibilities for the best solution. Putting a team in place who have different skills and perspectives, who “see” differently, is vital to good leadership.