“SAWUBONA” | PART 1

We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. 1 John 1:3 (NLT)

Humanity is bestowed with a gift of seeing, a kind of seeing that is a deeper seeing which includes perceiving, knowing, and beholding than plain seeing. Animals see and some animals can see far better than any human being. Yet, they don’t really see. It is as if cows lifting up to see cars drive by while grazing, they see but they do not see. Not being a cow, I cannot be so sure of this but presumably there is nothing going on in the space between the eyes. When I get to heaven, I can ask cows whether they saw and knew what was going on. . .

When the Bible uses the word, see, it is translated into multiple expressions beyond see such as know, perceive, discern, or behold. Knowing is far more prevalent than mere seeing. Perceiving is more than perceiving with the eyes but utilizing with some combination of the senses. Seeing is beyond actual physical seeing with our eyes. Biblical seeing is knowing, perceiving, or understanding that is often associated with a call to action. 

Not to overgeneralize, I think there are two kinds of seeing in interpersonal relationships: seeing others as objects and seeing others as subjects. (I will pick this back up in the next couple of weeks.) We have total control over and thus can make choices as to how we see others. I have read that in Zulu language, when they greet, they say, “sawubona,” which is translated as “I (or we) see you” which is followed by with a response, “yebo, sawubona,” which is translated as “I see you seeing me or Yes, I see you too.” Can you imagine saying hello by saying “sawubona” and “yebo, sawubona” while engaging eye to eye gaze? That would simply be powerful and moving. Last year in Korea, my wife and I were alone in an elevator with a ubiquitous delivery man, delivering food. Without pre-meditation on my part, I thanked him for his work and told him to be well while looking at him. Behind his mask and helmet, I could see in his eyes he was moved which in turn moved me. I “saw” him and he was touched. My wife promptly put her gentle hand on my shoulder after he got out and told me that I did good. Buoyed by my wife’s compliment, I told myself I should do that more often. . .  

I heard Stephen Colbert in a podcast describing improv comedy basically (fascinatingly, I might add) as “see and be seen, hear and be heard, and feel and be felt.” He said what drove him to do what he does and does well is the foundational desire that he didn’t want to be alone. An absolute foundational human desire and experience starts with the fact that I and others simply exist. By deep seeing, we “see” each other and know and validate that we all exist, paving the way for communities to be formed. Since no person is an island, we all exhibit innate desperation and longing, moving from being to belonging. “Seeing” and being seen facilitate the unbreakable connection between being and belonging. No one would belong to a community or a group where no one sees the other. 

In multiple communities of friendship and relationship I belong to, I am seen and see others. Often after a meaningful conversation, what remains with me over time is the eyes and the vibe more than words. Not to discount the words, it is the soft, warm, encouraging, and comforting gaze that my soul likes to remember. No wonder Jesus’ invitation for us is plainly to “come and see.”