Celebrity Sightings
By Robin Martinez
The list of famous people with ties to New Mexico is an eclectic one: Julia Roberts, Donald Rumsfeld, Val Kilmer, and Neil Patrick Harris, to name a few. Perhaps you’ve people watched from a bench along the Santa Fe Plaza hoping for a glimpse of someone famous. Or, like my husband, found yourself in the right place at the right time and caught John Travolta visiting with the locals while in town on a movie shoot.
Jesus had His time in the spotlight, too. During the three years of His public ministry, he was followed, swept up in an excited mob, grabbed by strangers, and given very little personal time and space. Even without the aid of today’s paparazzi and the news media, the people of the area knew when Jesus was coming to town!
Though the frenzied crowds are no longer present, we can still catch glimpses of Jesus. We can still see His gentle presence, His healing hand, His tender compassion, even His righteous anger.
“Seek, and you will find,” Jesus promised. So where will I see Him today? In the kindness extended by a stranger in a fast food restaurant? In the wise counsel of a fellow believer? In the beauty of an early June morning, the sun peaking over the Sandias, the birds raising their voices in a chorus of praise? In a child’s smile? Perhaps in finding the strength to oppose a popular, yet morally questionable, business decision all alone? Or in an overwhelming sense of peace when surrounded by chaos and confusion?
The possibilities for such a celebrity sighting are endless! Jesus commended His disciples in Matthew 13:16, saying, “But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.” I pray that I would have eyes to see Jesus. And I encourage you, dear friend, to keep you eyes open for a Jesus sighting. Then at day’s end, may we reflect on where you saw Him, and be surprised at what our once dulled vision now sees.
Father God, I pray my eyes would seek out Jesus at work, in and around me today. May I behold His beauty, His compassion, His mercy. May I seek Him with my heart, soul, mind and strength, and find Him in both the average and the amazing moments of this day.