Being Seen and Seeing Others: Open-Handed Generosity

Open-handed generosity is the practice of giving freely, without expectation, hesitation, or control. It is not just about material gifts— it includes offering time, presence, compassion, and love with a spirit of abundance rather than scarcity. It is a posture of the heart that says, “What I have is not mine to cling to—it’s meant to be shared.” 

At its core, open-handed generosity begins with truly seeing others—recognizing their dignity, their needs, and their worth. It’s about slowing down long enough to welcome someone’s story, her struggle, or her joy. And in that act of seeing, we also allow ourselves to be seen—vulnerable, present, and connected. 

When we give with open hands, we create space for mutual recognition. We say: 
“I see you. You matter. And I’m here with you.” 

Kim King shares a story about an unseen woman and how we can give the gift of being seen: 

Her name was Denise. Denise Prudhome. She was 60 years old and worked at at bank in Tempe, Arizona. She died in her cubicle at work. Dying in a cubicle at work is sad, but the greater tragedy is that she was not found until four days later. Four. Days. No one missed her. No one at work. No one among her neighbors. No friend or family member. They never missed her. She was discovered because of the smell of death.  

This tragedy cannot happen here we believe, until we read a story like this. 

I have worked in many offices, but I would be missed if no one had seen me for a day. I have friends and family who would send out a silver alert if I had not been heard from in a day. I am seen, not invisible. 

For most of her day Denise worked alone although surrounded by others. She became “invisible.”  Those who are invisible are not only those living on the street. They are in our work places, our churches, our schools, our communities. 

God sees us. Th psalmist writes: You know when I sit and when I rise…you discern my going out and lying down….. (Psalms 139;2-3a). And in Psalm 94:9 he writes, can He who formed the eye not see? In John 14:16, Jesus says to his disciples he is sending the Holy Spirit who will never leaves us.  

Jesus readily saw the blind man, the leper, the woman with a bleeding disease, and the man in the sycamore tree.  His first gift to them, before his saving grace, was the gift of being seen. We are called to love others too beginning with seeing them. Seeing may begin with mere eye contact. Those who are homeless testify to being handed money without any eye contact. Others who may be unnoticed: the office custodian, the airport policeman, the clerk at the store, the mail deliverer, and the stranger who sits in the back pew. 

Being seen is one of the greatest gifts we can give another person. Our failure to see others may be unconscious behavior from busyness, inward focus, or habit. But it is not the way of Jesus. 

So, I ask myself, “Who do I not see?” And I remember, I could be Denise, but for the grace of God. 

How can we give the gift of being seen to someone?