This week we had a memorial service to celebrate the life of Doff Ponsie. Doff and her husband Rob worshipped and served in this church for many years. In the tributes that were shared, one of the things that was repeatedly said about Doff was that she made people feel welcomed and seen. A story was told how, when she was part of WMC's hospital visitation team, she would get to the patients, but often only after visiting the car-guard, receptionist, cleaning staff, and others. There will have been many senior staff employed at the hospital who didn't know any of these people, but Doff knew their names and their stories. They felt seen.
We are not all the same - we all bring different gifts to the church community, but this is a gift that really needs to be celebrated alongside all the higher-profile contributions in the church, because small, caring gestures that make people feel seen change the world. That is certainly what happened one day when Jesus walked under a sycamore tree and noticed what no-one else had seen - a little man hiding in the branches. That encounter changed the life of Zacchaeus and his community. What opportunities will you and I have this week to help others feel seen?