Take a look from someone else's perspective

There is an episode of Leave it to Beaver that I enjoy watching whenever it comes on. Usually an episode from this series revolves around something Beaver has done to get himself into a problem. But this particular episode is a little different. In his easy-going manner, Beaver strikes up a conversation with the nice trash man who stopped by his house. 

As it turns out, the trash man tells Beaver that he has two boys about the same age as Beaver. Somehow during the conversation, an invitation is extended to let Beaver ride in the garbage truck over to this man's house to play with his boys. Beaver's mother is somewhat concerned about it because they live on the other side of town, but Ward assures June that he knew the man and he's very nice. 

A few hours later, Beaver is returned home beaming and excitedly talking about all the fun he had over at their house and playing with the boys. Then he goes on to tell Mom that he invited the boys over to their house the next day. He extends the invitation before asking permission. June is hesitant, but agrees with Ward's assurances. Big brother Wally said he had other plans and wasn't interested. 

Fast forward to the next day, the trash man's boys came over for a visit. Suddenly Wally and Beaver began to see things through the other boys' eyes. An abandoned wood project became something fun to do. Lying under the tree staring at the leaves and sky became something beautiful and relaxing. The other boys told Beaver his mom looked like a movie star. Wally decided his other plans could be pushed aside for this new adventure. 

The whole point of this episode is seeing things through someone else's perspective. What is taken for granted somehow becomes beautiful or fun or exciting. It is the same old stuff, but seeing it from someone else's perspective gave everything new life. There was a genuine appreciation and warmth for Beaver and Wally's family and home by the end of the episode.

This week, like many of you, I have been watching social media videos from visitors of other countries to the USA. Many of these visitors had the wrong impression of the United States because they only saw it through the filter of bad news reports, the wild imaginations of movie scripts and television shows. They assumed that the people of this country were all like what they see through a screen! 

I've been saying this for many years: people across the world have no idea what the real America is like and what the people are like. But now, with so many world visitors here using the cameras built into their phones, they are recording the real America. By and large, people are kind and friendly. We have Buc-ee's, 24-hour Waffle House, and Ranch Dressing. They were also amazed by such freedom we have to create, to choose, to pursue our dreams. It's all stuff that we take for granted. 

We also have small, patriotic towns that are clean and safe. These visitors are amazed because they had no idea and were led to believe that we live in a dystopian society like so many of our books and movies portray. The national news services only seem to report the bad stuff, so that also heavily influences the negative thoughts about us.

It is so refreshing to see through their eyes what they are seeing. Friendly conversations between locals and visitors. Neighbors helping neighbors. Waffle House and Ranch Dressing. And visitors to our country cleaning up after themselves because that's what you do when you visit someone in their country! We can all learn from these things. While America is not perfect—by any stretch of the imagination—it is a place rich in heritage. Our founders believed in liberty.

On the eve of our nation's 250th Birthday, I have been taking in all the historical significance of this country—this grand experiment and its origins. This country is not perfect and I don't agree with everything that our leaders say or do, but I also believe our differences is what has made this country strong. We pursue our dreams,  we raise families, help neighbors, and we build communities. Because I don't want to make this post divisive or political, I will stop there. As it says in Philippians 4:8, 

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, 

whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, 

if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 

I will finish this by saying that I had a very similar experience to Beaver and Wally several years ago. A coworker had an opportunity to visit the area near where I grew up. When he returned from his business trip, he talked about how beautiful the country roads were. The corn was growing right up to the edge of the road and taller than him. The land was so flat that you could see for miles. The sunsets were beautiful. Hmmm. All things that I thought were pretty dull, to be perfectly honest. I saw these things my whole life and took them for granted. However, hearing the way he described what he saw helped me to see things from his perspective. Now I can look at these ordinary things from his perspective and I enjoy those views so much more than I did before.

Be sure to take a look at your world from someone else's perspective. You'll be glad you did.

Happy Birthday to 

the United States of America.

 

Help Me Find It

It's Thanksgiving morning and while I'm preparing food to share with friends and family, I am listening to some of my favorite songs saved on a YouTube channel several years ago. Listening to these songs brings back memories, but one in particular just reminded me of God's sovereignty, His loyal love, and infinite kindness to me.

Help Me Find It is a song by a group called Sidewalk Prophets.When this song was first released on the radio, I remember listening to the lyrics and identifying with its message. Perhaps you've been there, too. You're on a path and suddenly the path is closed off and you're not sure where to turn or even why the path was blocked off. Questions abound: What happened? Why? Where do I go now? Lord, was this your plan?

When I found myself in that very position, this song ministered to my soul. I deferred to God and asked Him to show me the path to take.  

Help me find it.

I will trust in You.

Give me peace for the moment.

I will wait for You.

Those days were not easy, living in the unknown. But, leaning on God during those times did help. Each time this song came on the radio, it was another opportunity for me to renew my commitment to wait on God and His plan.

I can now look back on those times and know that God is faithful to His promises. I am ever so thankful that I yielded to God's plan, even in those moments of hurt.

On this day of Thanksgiving, I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for His blessings that often come through those hard times.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; 

I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. - Psalm 32:8

Pray that the LORD your God will tell us 

where we should go and what we should do. - Jeremiah 42:3

Grateful that God helped me find the right path. 

Perspective: Putting on New Glasses

I recently had an eye exam. I'm happy to report there was very little change in my vision for the last few years. I'm happy for one reason in particular--I don't have to spend any money on new glasses!


As we get older our vision will change more frequently. Regular exams can detect these changes and with those changes come those annoying expenses and question. Does anyone else get frustrated with the quick flip of the lenses and the repeated questions? "Which is better...This one or this one?" Sometimes there's a clear difference and other times I can't tell a difference at all! Often my eyes are still adjusting to the quick changes so I just have to take my time and hope the technician is patient.

Regular eye exams can also detect other potential problems in areas of the eye that we cannot see on the surface. It takes special tools and training to see these places in the back of the eye and to recognize the problem.

This all leads me to the topic of perspective. I wrote about Perspective a few years ago but it was in a different context. I was thinking about perspective again a few weeks ago, but I didn't have time to really delve into it. However, since that time I've done some thinking about it and discussed it with a friend. Here's the definition of the way I'm using it:

The origin of this word indicates that it actually means from the "science of optics" or "to look closely at."

When I put on my eyeglasses I can get a clearer view of what I'm looking at. Without the glasses, I can still see but my perspective is different. Things are a little fuzzy and it takes a little straining to see.

The same applies to our perspective on life. We all have these special glasses with which we view life. Our special glasses are formed from the time we are born and continually shaped by our environment. Our parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends all have a hand in shaping these glasses and give us a unique perspective on everything. Therefore, when we look at a particular issue it's always through the perspective of our own special glasses (experiences). In addition to people, our education and faith also help form these special glasses.

In this day and age in which we as a society seem to be offended about everything, it might help us to get an "eye exam" to correct or confirm our perspective. We should ask ourselves are few questions:

• What lens am I using to look at this particular problem? Am I looking at this problem through the eyes of my family or past experiences? Or am I looking at it through God's eyes? Sometimes I have to ask God to show me what's going on from His perspective. The Bible is one way to find out what He thinks.
• Should I take off this lens and put on another pair of eyeglasses? Maybe I need to see this situation through another person's lenses to understand or maybe I need a new prescription!
• Have I looked at this situation so long that I no longer clearly see what's happening? Have you ever driven the same route day after day and not noticed something? Then one day you're in the car while someone else is driving and you have more time to casually look around. Suddenly you notice a building you hadn't noticed before. Then you ask how long it's been there and find out it's been there for three years! Sometimes it takes stepping back from a situation to see what's right in front of us.

Just like my visits to the eye doctor can help detect potential changes or problems, I need to continue to examine my own perspectives on life. I can't always assume that my viewpoint is correct because that's the way I've always believed it to be. I need to be willing to humble myself and listen to other perspectives while always running those through Scripture to find out what God thinks. Sometimes I will find that it's time to put on some new glasses!

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!  

Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. 

Remember, the Lord is coming soon.  

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. 

Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  

Then you will experience God’s peace, 

which exceeds anything we can understand. 

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. 

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, 

and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. 

Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  

Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—

everything you heard from me and saw me doing. 

Then the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:4-9

Faithfully yours,

 

Perspective

"Perspective is never just what you see.

Perspective is how you view

what you see." ~ Tony Evans

From my perspective, things can look distorted or overwhelming or never-ending.

I recently read an interesting example of this: Two mountain climbers looked at the mountain they were about to climb. They spent all day climbing up the mountain. Finally at the top, the exhausted younger climber said to the experienced climber, "We finally made it to the top!" The experienced climber pointed over the other climber's shoulder and said, "No. This is just the top of the first hill. The real mountain is over there."

Life challenges are often like that climbing experience. We're anxious to get to the "end of the road" or the "top of that hill" so that we can see what's on the other side, move on, and enjoy the view from the top. The climb can be exhilarating at times and other times it's simply exhausting. We finally get to what appears to be the top of the mountain only to discover there's still more climbing to be done.

From the climber's perspective, life (problems or the future) can seem impossibly far, unbelievably high, or much too big. God has a different perspective than we do. I've touched on that subject before on this blog. From His sovereign position, God is able to see things from a much different perspective. He can see from the beginning of time to the end; the past and eternity at a glance.

It's hard to imagine that perspective with this human mind. Centuries are like the blink of an eye to God. Gigantic mountains are little more than an ant hill from God's perspective. Evenso, God understands our limitations for understanding this perspective. After all, He came to earth in the human form of Jesus Christ to live among people. Gratefully, He extends mercy to us when we whine and complain about those mountains and long journeys. 

Once again, it seems to boil down to a matter of trust. We have to trust that God knows what He's doing, that He's equipped us for the journey, and that He's right there climbing with us just like that experienced climber in the story. We have to see things from God's perspective and if we cannot see the path before us, we have to trust the Lord to guide us step by step.

"Trusting the Lord means looking 

beyond what we can see to what God sees. 

David won the victory against Goliath—an

experienced, intimidating warrior—because

the young shepherd saw the conflict from the God's perspective." ~ Dr. Charles Stanley

Mount Goliath is intimidating. It's often more than a day's journey. It can stretch into weeks, months, or even years. The climb becomes so tiresome that I'd rather just camp out at the top of the hill I'm already on (or even turn around and go back). After all, the view on this hill isn't so bad. But...

I know God has a better view in mind for me. I have also learned that if I stick close to my Guide, He is more than willing to encourage me the whole way. I couldn't make it up that mountain without Him.

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides

in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, 

for apart from Me you can do nothing. - John 15:5