Eyes to See

Do you see the monkey or the circus-performing whale wearing sunglasses?
99% of people can't see the whale.
(Photo taken in the Japan National Museum)

So... What on earth does “MiruMe” mean? That’s a good question. I thought for a while about what I would call this blog and after considering for a time this idea popped into my head.

First off, yes it is Japanese. But it has a little bit more significance to me than just the straight up definition.

The first time I remember hearing “MiruMe” was in Niigata, Japan. My mission president was talking about how we have to open our eyes to see the miracles all around us. We need to have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to love. In the Japanese translation of the previous sentence, “miru me” is used to mean “eyes to see”. There are two Kanji (Chinese characters) in the word mirume. The first character is 見 which accounts for the “Mi” sound. This character means to see. 目gives the “meh” sound and means “eye”. There is one more character る which does not have any particular meaning but makes the sound “ru” and helps complete the word. So 見る目 literally means “eyes that see”. If you look it up in a Japanese-English dictionary it might also give the translation “a discerning eye”. You could say the same thing with "kan-shiki-gan", but, as I said before, “mirume” has a bit more significance for me.

I like the idea of eyes that see. Most people have eyes, but usually everyone sees something different. This blog is a record of what I see, and how I want to change and improve my own vision.

I want to see miracles. In Japan I saw a lot of miracles. I saw people who had never believed or had never thought much about God say sincere prayers to God, their Father in Heaven. I saw someone change from tears of frustration to calm in seconds after feeling the spirit of God. Another couple  I was teaching was in tears after they received a powerful witness from God of his love for them. And I saw countless others instances of things that are quite "hard to explain".

I can see those miracles wherever I am if I have Faith and eyes to see. (And you can see them too! I'd love to hear about cool miracles in your life or a situation where you have seen something in a different way. Please leave a post or comment anytime if you have any cool thoughts to share! )

Thus, MiruMe and Eyes2seemiracles!

I also think it is kind of fun that I can say Miru”Me” (as in myself) even though that is the wrong pronunciation. Just another way to look at that name I guess.

読んでくれていつもありがとうございます！

Nathanielヘバート


Note:If you do see the whale... you might need to take a break and rest for a while^_^