Birthing a Vision

There is one other element to seeing the invisible: faith. The very concept of “seeing” implies insight or foresight into something before it is visibly there. We don’t actually see the thing. At least not fully. If we did, no faith or risk would be required.

Seeing the invisible does not work like seeing what is visible.

We see the invisible in part. We see, as the great Pauline metaphor goes, through a glass darkly, or as if looking into a foggy mirror. We see enough to elicit a response. We see enough to know something is required. But only enough for the next step.

Our visions of the future, or premonitions, are vague — longings almost like feelings.  We can sense what their end will be or feel like. But we can only see enough for today.  We do not get a telescopic lens into the future. We get a lamp for our feet.

We take steps, small ones. One at a time.

We must step to see. That’s worth repeating: we must step forward to see what’s next.  Sight follows faith. Only as we begin walking does the path begin to open up. That means most times, our way forward will be clunky, awkward, and even strange.

But as we begin to make our way the Way is opened up for us. The road opens up.  Anyone who has ever experienced this knows that I am telling the truth. Literally a way becomes clear and open that simply was not there before.

Or at least we didn’t see it.

We enter in, open up, and walk, baffled and amazed at the ease of the path that was just right under our noses. How did we not see it? We did not see it because we simply could not from the place we were standing. We needed to move a step forward.

Those first few small steps, when no one is looking and we get the gears turning, those are the ones. The big ones. It is like the scenic drive from Flagstaff to Sedona, AZ.  There are numerous signs that say “lookout coming” when only trees abound.

It is easy to think one missed it.

It could be easy to get so discouraged that one stops just before getting to the point where the road opens up. When suddenly you are looking at one of the most gorgeous views in America. Breathtaking. And just seconds earlier you considered stopping?

Go! That is the point. Where, how, when, what? All irrelevant questions here. We have been so trained to critically think and strategic plan that we forget that all those processes require something from a completely different process: a vision.

Trying to hone in on a vision using the tactics of strategic planning will go nowhere.  Vision comes from a different place. Vision does not involve implementation, not yet. Collaboration on the how will come later. There is no envisioning by committee.

Vision is an entirely a different thing.

If those on the strategy and planning side get a hold of an burgeoning idea too early, they can kill it. Their questions indavertantly murder the innocent fledgling, because those questions are met for a whole other thing, yet most do not realize this.

Strategic thinking is critical. Yes. But it is trained to hone in on what is missing, and evaluate the worth of what is there. If the vision is not there yet, critical thinking can only tell us what we already know. Wait on it, inside your heart a little longer.

What you see, though not clear yet, will be worth the wait.