Have you ever had the experience of meeting or even just being around someone who you just sense to be an authentic person?  It’s almost like an intuition that you have, or perhaps a deep sense of immediate trust or appreciation that you would find hard to describe.  I’m not talking about infatuation here.  It can be a very subtle experience that you have, perhaps based upon not even so much what the other person says, but just a sense you gather of who they ARE, a presence that they seem to exude, that in some strange but beautiful way is a consolation to you.  It could be that you may go on to develop a relationship with that person, or it could be that you see them from time to time but not on a regular basis, or perhaps you don’t ever physically see them again. And it could very well become the person with whom you spend the rest of your life.

I have met people in my life with whom, though I may not see very often, there is a profound appreciation that this person is alive here on this earth with me, and with all of us.  There is a sense that without this particular person, all would be different.  This person’s very presence makes a tremendous difference in my life, in the community’s life, in the life of the universe!  And, I want to say again that I am not talking about a glamorization of this person’s life in your estimation, but really an honest acknowledgement of the struggles and “faults” that are present in this person’s life, whether or not you are aware of them or not.  It’s an odd but beautiful experience that I cannot really explain, but it has a profound effect on me and leaves me with gratitude!

In today’s Gospel story (Jn 1:47-51), “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.’  I see this scripture as a description of recognizing authenticity in a person.  We could look deeper into this interaction and pose that Nathaniel (Bartholomew) is not necessarily being singled out as an outstanding example of an Israelite so much as he is being identified as an indispensable and beautiful (in all frailty and brokenness present but not mentioned) human person who has gifts that need to be cherished, nourished, so that they will bring joy and fulfillment to Nathaniel and at the same time to everyone else as well.  The story goes on to say how Nathaniel is utterly amazed that Jesus SEES this within him.  How wonderful must that experience have been!!

Jesus saw Nathaniel “under the fig tree” and from this, affirmed the dignity and authenticity of Nathaniel’s life.  Biblical scholarship may be able to describe what could be meant by “under the fig tree,” but my sense is that it could mean:

“I see you in the simplicity of your life, the desire that you have to be loved and to love, the authentic albeit sometimes confused way in which you are trying to live that out…and I love you in all of this!”

Is this not Jesus’ call to all of us?  He’s really just saying, “come on with me….let’s go together!”  And this “together” is you and me, and EVERYONE else!

Of course, Jesus had a divine gift of being able to SEE into people, but I’m not sure that we cannot cultivate that same gift in ourselves.  We all have special relationships in our lives, subtle or profound realizations of the unique giftedness of others that feed us.  But what would it be like to begin to see just a little of that in everyone we meet?  It could be like “passing it on.”  Or maybe more like “inviting them in!”  The beauty and fulfillment that we receive in particular relationships are good and necessary, but they are always meant to be shared.  And part of this sharing is the very identification of the gifts in others!  To be able to see each other “under the fig tree,”  is to recognize the beauty in each other, as created in God’s own image, and this is in the last analysis…a HEALING experience.  What relief and consolation is there in such a realization!!

This is the cool shade of the “fig tree” that we are called to share with one another, so that like Nathaniel, we can experience the words of Jesus, “You will see greater things than this…you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Peace,

Thomas