Dear Family and Friends,

I ran across an article this week called, “He’s Absolutely Extraordinary: Remembering Robin Williams.”

The magazine Vanity Fair had collected memories from 20 costars and friends of Robin Williams to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his passing. Many were hilarious.

But there was one story that stood above the rest. Sally Field’s personal story of a tragic day on the set of Mrs. Doubtfire.

While resting between scenes, Ms. Field received a call from her father’s doctor. Her father, who was in a nursing facility due to a stroke, had another stroke. The doctor said this one was massive.

After deciding to not resuscitate and let him go, she asked the doctor to lean over and say to her father, “Sally says goodbye.”

She continued, “I was of course beside myself. I came on the set trying with all my might to act. I wasn’t crying. 
Robin came over, pulled me out of the set, and asked, ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes, why?’
‘I don’t know, just thought [I’d ask] that.’
‘No, I’m not, Robin. My father just passed.’
‘Oh my God, we need to get you out of here right now.’
And he made it happen—they shot around me the rest of the day. 
It’s a side of Robin that people rarely knew: He was very sensitive and intuitive.”

Why is this story so special? Out of countless interactions with Robin, why did Sally choose to share this particular story?

I believe it was because she was touched by his kindness. And perhaps because Robin did something that is somewhat lost in today’s society.

Robin Williams ‘saw’ what many of us would not – a person who was in need. And then he did something about it.

Whether we need help at the moment or not, we all want friends like Robin. We all want others to ‘see’ us. And extend kindness to us.

Why? Because deep down inside, we all have a need to be seen. A need that can only be filled by someone else.

As image bearers of God, we need each other. We need relationships, just as God has with Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

And going further, don’t we all wish we could be like Robin, seeing and being kind to others – not only in their times of need, but always?

Now, I have a few friends who would have done what Robin did. But I suspect there are many more of us who are yearning to do good but are not quite there…

So, how do we progress? How do we come to ‘see’ others?

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, shortly after he revealed the fruit of the Spirit and encouraged us to keep in step with the Spirit, he wrote:

“Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”  Galatians 5:26 NIV

Conceited comes from Greek word – kenódoksos – which means vainglorious; self-deluded conceit driven by personal delusions of grandeur; groundless conceit – boasting where there is nothing to boast about.

We used this word ‘conceited’ at lot in high school. Most of us have since outgrown baseless boasting, except for maybe politicians.

But whether we readily admit it or not, we all have one thing in common with the conceited.

We deeply care what others think of us. We long to have others look into our eyes with loving respect and acceptance.

For some, this can be an obsession. One that perhaps grew out of past hurts. We desperately try to prove to anyone who will listen that we are somebody – the person we want others to think we are…

For others, it’s a source of anxiety. For example, underlying the search for one’s identity is the fear of being an unknown.

And therein lies our challenge of ‘seeing’ others. We struggle to see others because we’re too busy worrying about how others see us.

The first step towards overcoming our challenge, to loving and ‘seeing’ others, is to believe that what God said about His Son Jesus – He means for us as well.

You are my child, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.  (From ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬)

In closing, the journey to seeing others as we would have them see us begins with curing our blind spot. To stop worrying about our self-image and find rest in the truth that God sees us, loves us and is well pleased with us. 

We’ll finish the rest of our Galatians passage next time.

In love always,

Pastor Dale
pastordale.church