How many times has it been said by someone who got glasses that, "Wow! I can see! I had no idea how bad my vision was!" It's one of those things that we simply get used to seeing the world the way we see it…though our eyes.
Remember Romans 1 says that we can know how spiritual things are...how God is...by seeing how the physical world is. We see physically through our own eyes...and we do so spiritually as well. "Life" is like this. We get used to seeing the world (our world view) the way we're used to seeing it. We are used to seeing things "from our perspective"…from our "angle".
Glasses serve the human eye simply by changing the angle that the light hits our focus point. Right?
For those who are willing to try to see things from other people's perspective…from other "angles"…their world view will be constantly becoming clearer and clearer…more in focus.
Jesus said it this way, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." He was saying, "See life from their angle…" And, there is that old Indian saying about "walking a mile in the other guy's moccasins." Same thing.
As long as parents insist on seeing life through their own perspective…from their own angle…they may never know how blurry they are really seeing things. How distorted their vision of parenting is. If a mom would see life through her newborn's eyes…she wouldn't leave that baby to sleep in a crib in another room…she would not give the baby bottles instead of booby…and she would never let that baby cry itself to sleep.
If parents would see life through their children's eyes…they would never strike them…especially not in the name of Love.
If Christians would see the world through the "sinner's" eye…we would not parade around with hateful signs about groups of people.
If we would simply do unto others…walk a mile in the other guy's moccasins…the world would be a much different place.
Once you become willing to see things from your child's perspective it is just like the person who never knew what they couldn't see. You don't realize what you're not seeing…the beauty…the detail…the color…in the world…in other people…in our children…
When it comes to something we see as "pure" we are very protective of it. Yes? You know what I mean...a new car. New furniture. New carpeting. New clothes. New shoes. Something that we see as "perfect" we tend to be very fussy about...very protective of and careful how we treat it.
But...when it comes to something we already see as "blemished" we are not very worried about it. Maybe some of you can related to this? Say you're driving a 1991 car that already has dents and scratches all over its faded paint...you pull into a parking lot. How concerned about where you park it will you be? Or, how about old nasty carpet...when you enter a room and look down and see old nasty carpet do you take your shoes off to walk across it? What about old shoes, now that we're talking about shoes? When someone steps on your feet when you are wearing shoes you've had for years and already worn in the mud...do you react and quickly check your shoes?
What if you're borrowing a friend's car...and it's 20 years old and all scratched and dented up. You pull into a parking lot and some beat up old jalopy pulls in next to you and the driver jumps out of his car and "smacks" his door up against the side of your car. How worried are you about that? But, what if you've borrowed your friend's brand new car and you pull into a parking lot and the same thing happens. Now how do you feel?
Our view of the "pureness" of something totally effects how we feel about that thing and therefore how we treat it. It also affects how we react to seeing that thing being harmed.
So...
Original Sin.
How do you see your children?
Do you see them as perfect...brand new...blemishless...without scratches or dents? Do you see them as something to be cared for with the utmost attention? Do you care "where you park them"? Do you use extra caution when doing anything near or around them so as to not mar them? Or do you see them as already a sinner?
What you believe about the condition your child arrives in will have an effect on every decision you make with that child. Every. One view will lead you to treat that child with the utmost respect and be highly protective of them...and the other will not.
So, where do you think that doctrine (Original Sin) comes from????
Worth thinkin' about...
(My dream car...a 1958 Impala...ain't she perdy?)
:)
