I’m conducting an experiment.

To be clear, it’s not a scientific experiment. I never had much luck with them. Chemistry was a struggle, and more than once my lab partner and I at St. Joseph Boys High School failed in our attempt to concoct Love Potion #9.

Biology wasn’t much better. Since I can’t stand the sight of blood—my own or another creature’s—that was an ordeal too. By senior year, I was tired of experiments and refused to take psychics.

However, this isn’t a scientific experiment.

It’s a spiritual experiment. It all started when I was reading the daily devotional God Calling and came upon this reflection: “Always seek to understand others, and you cannot fail to love them. See me in the dull, the uninteresting, the sinful, the critical, the miserable. See me in the laughter of children and the sweetness of old age, in the courage of youth and the patience of man and womanhood.”

God Calling, which was written by two anonymous “listeners,” was published 90 years ago in England and has sold millions of copies worldwide.

Those words are a real challenge. Look for Christ in “the dull, the uninteresting, the sinful, the critical, the miserable…” That’s a tough pill to swallow, as my mother would say.

I know a lot of dull people, myself included. And the list of uninteresting people is even longer. The sinful? Well, as they say, we’re all sinners. The critical? I thrive on being critical. The crazy thing is, critical people are attracted to one another around water coolers and in coffee klatches and all across that acrimonious landscape known as social media, where otherwise ordinary people, when given a platform to the masses, are relentless in hurling abuse. See Christ in the critical? That’s a hard one.

What about the miserable? Let me be honest. For much of my life, I’ve been surrounded by complainers; some people make it their life’s obsession. To quote my mother again: “They’re only happy when they’re complaining.”

You’re probably wondering what’s my spiritual experiment. I set out to find the face of God in people who were repulsive to me. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, especially since I was probably repulsive to them.

Mother Teresa always said, “Seek the face of God in everything, everyone, all the time.” To which I respond, “Easier said than done.”

So I started by praying to Jesus. Actually, it was more of a challenge than a prayer. I said, “OK, Lord, if you want me to see you in imperfect and annoying people, you have to give me the graces to succeed, because there’s absolutely no way I can do it on my own.” I’d rather run the other way or stay home in bed with the covers over my head than deal with the dull, the uninteresting, the sinful, the critical and the miserable.

This much I knew: If you want to grow in holiness, you have to ask for help because you can’t do it alone. I asked for grace … and waited for the next dull, uninteresting, sinful, critical and miserable person to come along. It didn’t take long. (If I thought I was testing Jesus, I quickly realized he was testing me.)

I crossed paths with a true complainer, who was totally miserable about everything—the election, the Church, the morning headlines, the evening headlines, you name it. So I uttered this prayer: “Jesus, let me see them as you see them.”

And a strange thing happened. It didn’t make listening to all that negativity any easier, but every so often I realized Christ was at work in him, trying to make all things new. Once I got past the complaining and complimented him for something, I saw a spark of good. I also realized he was the way he was because there had been a lot of hurt in his life.

A week later, I met another person. I tried not to focus on the miserable. I tried to focus on what was beneath the miserable, and I realized there was a lot of good in her that had been overshadowed by negativity.

It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but I think Jesus put them in my path so I could pray for them and start to find Christ in places where I would have never looked before.

Try it and see what happens. Say this simple prayer: “Jesus, let me see them as you see them.”