On Friday, I'd just put my food down at lunch when Catherine Tinkler came up to me at the teachers' table and said, "We need to talk." My ill conceived and inaccurate notion was, as always, that there was something wrong. After all, she has five of my players in class and it turned out I was, as usual, way off the mark. She wanted to ask me about a mutual show we watch, Revolution. (Actually, they changed the time to right in the middle of Wednesday night Bible study so now I have to watch it on Thursday night on nbc.com.) Catherine asked my thoughts about where the show was in terms of story line and I told her two things. First, I've come to the conclusion that Aaron might be evil after thinking all along he was the best of the characters, just sort of lacking in any type of manly courage. Secondly, I'm more convinced than ever that Miles is Charlie's father. (I realize my surmising is meaningless if you are not a Revolutionary as watchers are called!) Catherine agreed with me on both counts but her reasonings were polar opposites from mine. Catherine talked to me about the development of the plot from the perspective of an English teacher and from the perspective of her gender. We splintered off into the plot of Person Of Interest, one scene actually, and her view that not enough time was spent preparing the audience for the dramatic and unexpected, I think, kiss. We then delved into how girls view male coaches versus female coaches. I always learn when I spend time with Catherine and school was in session for me at lunchtime on Friday.
What a difference our point of view makes when we look at life. I look at the world through the lens of a small town Midwestern male raised by conservative Christian parents in a stable environment. Mission trips have given me a much different view of, well, most everything! I really like the picture above from last July of Nguyen documenting our trip to Nhung's home outside of Can Tho, Vietnam for a wonderful family dinner. Do you think Nguyen, an awesome Christian young lady, looks at things just a little differently than I do? I was fascinated this afternoon as I lifted weights, watching a little old lady who I would guess is in her upper seventies. Everything she touched, she wiped down with one of those disinfectant towlettes. Has she been sick? Is she afraid of germs from guys like me? Has she always been this cautious? It seemed very, umm, weird to me. And yet, I am pretty sure I strike others with that same sense of bewilderment over my views/habits/mannerisms, etc. Jesus had the touch that enabled Him to see through the eyes of others. He had the advantage of being their creator but he allowed for individual differences and conditions while not excusing behaviors contrary to the will of the Father. And so this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful to have a Savior who knows that we try, knows we are frail, knows we are human.....and yet loves us anyway. I need more, much more, of that perspective. I'm thankful He is giving me the opportunity to refocus my vision.
Applicable quote of the day:
"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."
Anaïs Nin
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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