Project: The Pilgrim Continues His Way Series: Lord Jesus Christ, Teach Me to See: Unceasing Prayer, Part 3

Source: The Pilgrim Continues His Way, Author Unknown, translated by Olga Savin, Shambhala, Boulder, 2001.

Lord Jesus Christ, Teach Me to See

The disciples once asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus gave them the prayer we know as the Lord’s Prayer.

The Orthodox tradition has also given us what is commonly called the Jesus Prayer:

“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”

In the Sixth Meeting of The Pilgrim Continues His Way, the Pilgrim and the Professor meet the Skhimnik, who teaches them about unceasing prayer. Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing,” and the Jesus Prayer becomes a way of continually turning the heart toward Christ.

As I have been reading this conversation, I have been thinking about what this means for my own School of Prayer.

In the last reflection, I came to the door with a simple prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.

The Holy Spirit has already been wooing me. Prevenient grace has brought me from the street, up the steps, and onto the porch. I come to the door recognizing my need for mercy.

I respond in faith.

Mercy gets me through the door.

But the journey does not end at the threshold.

I have entered the house.

Now sanctifying grace begins teaching me how to live there.

And so another prayer is growing within me:

Lord Jesus Christ, teach me to see.

I See, but Do I Understand?

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 that our present seeing is imperfect. We do not yet see everything clearly.

I sometimes think of it as looking through dirty or tinted glass. Something is there. I can see it. But what I see may be distorted, incomplete, or affected by the glass through which I am looking.

That is a humbling thought.

I can see something happen and still misunderstand what happened.

A witness can honestly describe what he or she saw and still misunderstand its meaning.

I can read a passage of Sacred Writings and think I understand it, only to return years later and discover something I could not see before.

I can look at another person and believe I know that person’s story when I have seen only the outside.

I can even look at myself and fail to see myself clearly.

Seeing is not necessarily understanding.

Look at the people who saw Jesus.

Crowds watched him teach. They witnessed his actions. They heard his words. Yet they did not all see the same thing.

Some saw a teacher.

Some saw a prophet.

Some saw someone they wanted to follow.

Others saw a threat.

They were looking at the same Jesus, but they were not interpreting what they saw in the same way.

That makes me wonder about my own vision.

The Seed May Have Been There for Years

Sometimes understanding comes immediately.

Often it doesn’t.

A seed may be planted through something I read, hear, experience, or observe. At the time, I may barely notice it.

Then something else happens.

The seed gets watered.

The soil gets tilled.

Some weeds get pulled.

Years later I encounter another experience, another person, another passage of Scripture, or another idea, and suddenly I say:

“I never saw that before.”

Perhaps the truth did not suddenly appear.

Perhaps I am finally able to see something that grace has been preparing me to see for years.

That has happened many times on my pilgrimage.

It is happening again as I sit with the Pilgrim, the Professor, and the Skhimnik.

I am not trying to correct the Skhimnik’s teaching about unceasing prayer. I am allowing his teaching to take me another step.

If I am continually turning toward Jesus, then what am I asking Jesus to do within me?

One answer is becoming very clear:

Teach me to see.

Grace Teaches Me to See

This is where my picture of the house of grace helps me.

Prevenient grace woos me toward the house.

At the door I pray:

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.

I respond in faith, and through justifying grace the broken relationship is restored.

I cross the threshold.

But Christianity is not simply getting through the door.

There is an entire house in which to live.

That is sanctifying grace.

And one of the first things I need grace to teach me is how to see.

Not merely how to look.

How to see.

There is a difference.

I need Jesus to teach me to recognize when my interpretation may be incomplete.

I need to become willing to look again.

I need enough humility to say:

Maybe there is something here I have not yet seen.

That is not weakness.

That is being a student.

That is being a pilgrim.

That is becoming like a child who is still willing to learn.

Another Prayer for the Journey

So I am adding another prayer to my School of Prayer.

I am not abandoning:

“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”

I need that prayer.

I will always need mercy.

But mercy has brought me through the door, and grace is teaching me how to live in the house.

So now I pray:

Lord Jesus Christ, teach me to see.

When I read the Sacred Writings:

Teach me to see.

When an experience challenges something I have always believed:

Teach me to see.

When I am certain I understand what happened:

Teach me to see.

When I encounter someone whose life I do not understand:

Teach me to see.

When I look back over my own pilgrimage:

Teach me to see.

And especially when I think I already see clearly:

Lord Jesus Christ, teach me to see.

I am still looking through imperfect glass.

I am still learning.

I am still a pilgrim.

Mercy gets me through the door.

Grace teaches me to see.