Seeing God in Others: Looking Past the Mask
Each of us walks through the day surrounded by people wearing masks — not to deceive us, but simply to survive. Think of the short-tempered colleague who is exhausted. The driver who cuts us off because he is running late. The barista whose ambivalence has nothing to do with us. When we are unconscious, we see only the mask and react to it. When we are present, the mask comes off — and we start to see another person struggling, just as we are.
In Choosing Presence, Jim Heaney describes the moment this became real for him. Respecting every person around him, he came to see, was “not only a moral obligation, but a life necessity — we are all connected.” In the introductory section, Why I Wrote This Book, Jim posits: “How can I hurt someone I am connected to spiritually?” Presence does not just calm us. It dissolves the false boundary between us and them.
Jim is honest about the alternative: “We tend to apply the same false measurements we turn on ourselves to the people around us, creating negative feelings of judgment.” The judgments we carry about others almost always begin as judgments about ourselves. When stillness softens the inner critic, it softens the outer one too — and we stop seeing enemies. We start seeing the God-Self in our neighbor: the same Spirit alive in us, struggling to be remembered in them.
This week, choose one stranger you pass and silently wish them peace. Just a quiet acknowledgment that they, too, belong to God.
Brian Mueller – Poet, Community Organizer, and Spiritual Guide
Brian Mueller is a poet and community organizer based in Dayton, Ohio. He serves as Director of Education & Engagement for ChoosingPresence.org and is an active member of the Ohio Chapter of Illuman, where he co-leads writing retreats that support men’s spiritual journeys. As a writer, Brian is known for his candid, accessible poetry, with works including Cock‑A‑Doodle‑Doo: 100 Morning Haiku, the Poem of the Day series, and the Bull Series. Inspired by poets like Rumi and Mary Oliver, he believes everyone carries the voice of a poet within.
