Not As They Appear

They say that “Perception is Reality.” I argue that it isn’t. Largely, it’s that “we don’t see things as they are, but see things as WE are.” Our understanding of cultures, beliefs, politics, ideologies, values, morals, work, diets, love, sex, war, religion, education and many aspects of society are filtered through our personal combination of experiences, upbringing, and education. Why then are we quick to pass judgments on these societal factors that exist in other parts of our world?

We categorize everything as either “right” or “wrong;” “left” or “right;” “religious” or “secular;” and “good” or “evil.” This is especially true for those of us in the “western” world. For us who are exposed to so many different cultural belief systems and so many news sources, it enables us deal with this overwhelming deluge of information and process them according to our world view. Even our media sources attempt to pre-classify these things according to categories through the articles title and the words they use. They also do it through omission. Leaving out information or view-points that would normally be important to help us actually understand the context and truth about a given situation or event. The opposite, being born and raised in a small, enclosed, closely knit society, the minimum of varietals’ (events, cultural variants, moral dilemma’s, and issues that you would need to consider and work through would be small in comparison. You will find it true however, that since a community like this is small and close, that all information becomes known, brought into the light, helping avoid secrecy or bias. Then truth becomes revealed as things can be seen and understood in the light of truth and context. And, I’m sure that to some extent, we “open-minded” and “educationally superior” modern world people elevate ourselves as more culturally and diversely aware than those who do not face these same questions or volume of questions. This is self-delusion. Volume in no way constitutes a monopoly on truth or importance.

I propose that it may be that thoughts, things and actions may not necessarily need to always be classified according to our aforementioned categories. Maybe some things just are. They require not classification into a neat little box nor judgment of any kind. They merely are. To some of us, that may require a little mental gymnastics to coach ourselves into relaxing our judgments and biases. It may enable us to enjoy more aspects of this great big world than we could previously when wearing our “perception spectacles.” It may enable us to more easily love someone who eats bugs, wears nothing, appreciates body odor, lives modestly, pierces their lips and inserts discs, births 22 children, dedicates their life to ministry, chooses to live in the remoteness of a desolate desert, doesn’t shed tears at the loss of a loved one, or never went to school.

So are the above classifiable as “right” or “wrong?” No. 1 Corinthians 6:12 (NASV) tells us "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable (helpful)..." Is it helpful to me? Will this help me to become a better person, a better friend, a better brother or sister? And 1 Corinthians 8:7-13 gives the third guideline for knowing right form wrong. In this passage, the principle is not to do things that will cause someone else to stumble. The apostle Paul had a strong faith; he knew there was only one God. He knew God had given him freedom to eat certain meats, but if it made others fall, he would not eat the meat. This gives us leeway to do a lot of things. Fun things. Enjoyable things. Just not things that will cause others within our sphere of influence to stumble. What this requires is understanding of each others view-point. The circumstances that led up to each persons “being.” And, instead of quickly judging, we should remind ourselves that things are not always as they appear.

For a fictional burlesque through this type of moral tryst, I would highly recommend Amy Tan’s newest novel “Saving Fish From Drowning.” You can find out a little more about this book for yourself here or order it for yourself from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ABO’s or Penguin books. Enjoy. Live peaceably. Judge less. And love more.