Wednesday, October 17, 2007

According to Your Perspective

Vic dropped my younger granddaughter off at school yesterday.
Elora was reluctant to leave the car until her friend arrived so they sat in the car awhile and waited.
There was a group of children standing nearby and Vic asked if Elora knew them . “Oh, yes,” she said, “a couple of them are in my class.”
“Which ones? The boys?” asked Vic. “That boy looks really small .”
“Maybe from your perspective!” was Elora’s retort.

I knew what she meant. I laughed when Vic told me the story but it reminded me of when I was just six years old.
It was my first day of school.
I am so old that when I was young there was no preschool nor kindergarten. I started school with grade one.
My mother walked me the distance of just over a country mile to the one room schoolhouse that held grades one and two.
I was very excited and looking forward to learning to read.
But all my excitement turned to terror when the little schoolhouse came into view.
I saw two very big, tall boys hanging over the small fence beside the road.
I told my mother I had changed my mind…I didn’t want to go to school with those big boys. She laughed and said, “What big boys?? Those are little boys, they are only in grade two!”
Knowing what grade they were in really didn’t calm my fears, from my perspective they were huge and threatening !!

I thought about “from my perspective” and wondered how often we judge falsely because we judge ‘from our perspective’, without even realizing it.

There is an old saying attributed to the Native American (Indian) "Before I judge a man, let me first walk a mile in his moccasins."
“Walking in his moccasins” allows us to judge from ‘his perspective’ and not our own biased view.

Important as it is to open our hearts and listen to one another to understand their perspective….how much more important is it to not judge God from our perspective.

Many people judge God by what their earthly father modeled for them . If their father was harsh or cruel , then from their perspective God is disinterested in their life until He sees opportunity to bring difficulty or tragedy into their lives.
If their father was a benevolent passive parent , then from their perspective God is a God who passively watches them live their lives, handing out blessings.
Or some people’s perspective of God is unconsciously formed by bits and pieces of information they have gathered over the years, that may or may not be true . So then God becomes a god they have shaped with their own hands.

There is only one true perspective to have !! To see God for who He says He is.
He has revealed Himself in His creation and most importantly through His Word.
How much time have you spent “walking” in the Word making sure that the perspective you have concerning God and His ways is a true one?

“…that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He..before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I am the Lord and beside Me there is no savior…” (Is. 43:10,11)

“Oh,how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day….I have more understanding than all my teachers…. How sweet are Your words to my taste , sweeter than honey to my mouth…through Your precepts I got understanding ”
(Psalm 119:97,99,100,104)

11 comments:

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Thank you Julie.

I like the new fall photos in your sidebar, and just saw the sad story of the mother deer . . . I pray it has a happy ending.

James Janzen said...

I too, your little baby brother, am soo old that they didn't have pre school or kindergarten. Funny too how time made the school further away. When I went to school it was exactly 1 mile from home. We lived 1/4 mile from the boarder and our road was 1 mile long. The school was 1/4 mile up from our road.
Good lesson on trying to look at Gods perspective through our eyes. So many judge God by saying that if God was a God of love then we wouldn't have the pain and strife that we do. Our own perspective on God will never measure up to who he really is.

Julie said...

OK, thanks James...I shall correct my post !! I didn't want to exaggerate and I had forgotten exactly how far it was...so actually , because I went to the hall in grade one it was even a little farther than a mile!!

Lovella ♥ said...

I too am very old and didn't have kindergarten to break me in.
Our school was just over a mile so the bus came.

Thank you for the reminder on how to get the best possible perspective on who God is.

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

Just a hi to you dear Julie! Your post is wonderful, and the blog is beautiful with the new posy pictures.

I thought about you as I read about how doctors believe that Louise May Alcott suffered from Lupus.
Have you considered getting Dragonspeak or some other voice activated method of speaking your blog into print?

Anonymous said...

Mom - where did you (dad) take the picture of that mushroom? It's huge!

Julie said...

The mushroom is huge..Dad took the picture up behind our place.

Judy said...

So it's Lupus that is causing your pain? You are such a trooper despite it all! We are going to a fund-raising concert in Port Moody on Friday night with all the proceeds going for 'lupus research'.

Nicki said...

Hi Julie, I hope you don't mind me reading your blog, I used a link on Carolanne's site to get to yours. It was wonderful, inspiring, uplifting, challenging, enlightening and many other adjectives as well. If you don't mind I will be a regular visitor. The fall photos were so full of colour, a great addition. Pray your day is full to overflowing with the knowledge of God's love for you.

Julie said...

Judy... no , it isn't Lupus causing me all my pain..it is Rheumatoid Arthritis..the crippling kind. I was diagnosed with Lupus too but it seemed to go into remission when the RA came in with a vengeance.

I am happy for all research into finding cures for both these diseases..they aren't nice!!

Carolanne said...

Great devotional thought, Julie.

On Wednesday in my class devotions, we were talking about how it's important to read the Bible and to be immersed in it and encoruaged by it. (Not in those exact words).
Thanks for reaffirming that for me.