Ever take a picture while lying down on some grass? If you have, then you'll know one thing: a camera can only focus on one depth at a time.
A camera consists of two lenses, which, depending on how far apart they are, focus on a certain depth in the field of perception. Certain lenses are good for seeing distant objects; others are good for close-ups.
The same principle works for glasses. Some glasses enable near-sighted people to see distant objects. Others allow far-sighted people to see nearby objects. Each lens is unique and allows various objects to become clear.
I think that people are like lenses. Each of us has been equipped by our experiences to see certain things more clearly than others. But at the same time, no one lens is capable of focusing on everything.
Imagine two people sitting in a field. One is badly near-sighted, the other badly far-sighted, but neither knows this--all that is known to each is that they have less-than-perfect vision. Now they spot a red object in the field, at mid-range. One thinks they can make out the shape of a Cardinal; the other sees the outline of a Rose. Who is correct?
In a world where we are only capable of seeing at the one depth our experience has equipped us to see, the only way we can put together a truly accurate vision of our surroundings is to ask other people what they see; and then assimilate the information and try to figure it out.
Given all this, then we have to take what we can see for ourselves with a grain of salt. How can we know what in our field of vision is accurate? Granted, we usually have a pretty good idea what is in focus and what is not; but focus is a narrow little bugger--anything outside of the exact millimeter of focus will be slightly blurred. We can, in nearly all situations, find someone who can see more clearly.
At the same time, we have been blessed to see something in perfect focus--and it's our responsibility to share our insights with the world. By remaining silent about what we see, we may deprive someone the ability of seeing the world a little more clearly.
So the lens theory teaches us two things. Share what you see of the world, even when you're not sure it's correct; and listen and respect what other people see in the world on the same level as you respect your own insights.
Don't be judgmental of others--who is to say whether you are correct? And even if you are right, you may very well have made the same mistake if you were wearing that person's glasses.
Get out there, meet others, and always take time to stop and think. Could that rose really be a bird?
"He and we were a party of men walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world; and in two minutes, with a sudden snap, one of us would be gone – one mind less, one world less." (George Orwell)
3 comments:
We can and often do establish guidelines for life, sure; everything may seem clear enough to begin with.
But then we may reach a point at which we realize that those were arbitrary guidelines; everything is suddenly all blurry and hideously confusing. Some guidelines, even if they are arbitrary, are nonetheless helpful and/or constructive. Others...not so much.
There is so much relativity and varied experience that my head aches. In the end, all we can do is make the best decisions we know how to, based on our experiences and observations. Alas. Oh for some absolutes. :'(
The beautiful thing about God is that He keeps moving; so that everyone gets a chance to see Him in focus, if they're looking. This picture will as a result be sometimes clear and sometimes less clear--but we can live securely between the encounters because we remember that we once saw God, and that He is always in our vision, even if we don't recognize Him sometimes.
Hmmm. Interesting...
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