A Matter of Perspective

“It’s all a matter of perspective.”  I have heard that expression at times thorough out my life and have previously pondered it.

Today I am flying from San Francisco, California, to Charlotte, North Carolina, and I am thinking about how different one’s perspective of the topography is from a bird’s eye view as from a walking or driving view.  What appears to be an insurmountable barrier from below, looks like nothing more than a slight indentation from 30,000 feet above.  As we drive along a highway passing through cities and towns, we have no concept of the vast wilderness that is on either side of it.  We may stand next to a river watching its flow, but we have no understand of where it comes from or where it goes.  A wind turbine looks like a bit of a toothpick from the air, but having stood at the base of one, I can tell you that they are enormous.

My granddaughter accused me this week of not understanding what it is like to be a child.  She doesn’t just think I have forgotten.  She thinks I never was a child and went straight to being a grandmother!  She is seven, so she can be forgiven for this total lack of logic.  Actually, I do remember what it is like to be a child, and that is why I bother to attempt to correct her behaviors.  I also remember what it was like to be a not-yet-mature adult, which is why I was not offended greatly when a grandson told me that my ideas were out-dated and irrelevant. There is a perspective with age.  One might wish to impart a 70+ year old perspective to a young person, but unfortunately…or maybe fortunately…we each have to live life and experience some pain and sorrow to gain perspective from the passage of time.

Gender also impacts perspective.  I have been better than most females at understanding what goes through the male brain.  I generally get along better with a group of men than with a group of women.  I like women and have women friends with whom I share a deep connection, but trying to function with a group of women sometimes drives me a little crazy.  It’s not that there is anything wrong with the way men and women think…it is wonderful that both exist.  But they come from different perspectives.  Something which gets discussed in mind-numbing detail by women would be quickly decided by a group of men.  I was once part of an all-female committee that spent three meetings discussing what color the napkins should be at an up-coming event.  I didn’t attend the last of those meetings, because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to control the words that came out of my mouth.

Perhaps, the most important perspective comes from one’s worldview.  How did we get here?  Do we have a purpose?  Do our lives have meaning?  If so, what is it?  I have been at social events where the discussion has led me to believe that my worldview is quite different than that of the typical middle-class white person.  I believe there is a God who is creator and sustainer of the universe.  I believe we are here to honor Him with our lives.  I believe He has a grand design for the world and humanity, and that we each are to play a part in fulfilling His plan.  I believe everything we think we own, really belongs to Him.  It comes from His kindness to us, and we are responsible to Him for how we use it.  That includes our time, talents, and material resources.  I believe God sent His only Son in the person of Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin and to restore our broken relationship with Him.  This is the perspective that has impacted my entire life.

If you are reading this, spend some time thinking about your perspective.