Perception

I'm sitting with a new view... This morning I have the Space Needle, a Tesla dealership, and 3 industrial cranes as a backdrop to the stream of amazonians filing by.  I'm not judging, as this morning I could be perceived as one of them...in fact I was by the barista crafting my drink.  I can quite easily blend in and join their ranks, set apart from the other groups who comprise a good deal of the neighborhood.  From my window seat I can watch throngs of "badge people" passing by throngs of "orange vests" passing by "cart pushers".  If one had the desire, these groups could easily be defined in these terms...this neighborhood perhaps more than any other that I've been part of.  It would be a tragic mistake though.   Much of life around here is more about perception than reality.  Again not judging, as it is most likely that way wherever you happen to be reading this.
I was reminded of this even before leaving the house this morning as I sat watching "The Prince of Egypt " with the Princess.  Seeing the life of Moses, or at least an interpretation of it, unfold on the screen, I couldn't help comparing the Dreamworks version to the one that I grew up with in the form of Charlton Heston.  Tragically, I am of the opinion that his version has somewhat tainted a whole generation of my types who came to view him and as a result God in a certain fashion.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggestion that we base any level of theology on Dreamworks, but I do have a guess that they may have created a more "human" Moses.  He was certainly more emotional.  His was a more flawed, a more "I could relate" sort of character.  Charlton Heston was the superhero status that none of us could ever attain.  Honestly, I'm guessing that his was the image that we of the faithful followers were comfortable presenting.  It offered an image that made us, or those that came before us, look stronger than we really were and are.  Perception was more important than reality.  Reality was and is messy and sometimes unattractive.  The paradox of this, in the real world when I choose to live in it, is that what we of the faithful wish to hide as unattractive ...weakness, vulnerability, struggle, is in reality attractive to those who are honest enough to understand their life has those qualities.
This morning I remember that, though I may look quite Amazonian at the moment, I am not.  And while the perception of me as a follower of Jesus might be that as one having it all figured out ... I do not.

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