Perceptions
Is this a tree? Really? Look closely ... what else can you see?Watch this great antelope rescue. Would you believe it if I told you that I joined an animal rescue group and this was my first assignment? I'm 49 years old, so you can imagine how this taxed me! I can only do one or two of these a week! (Thanks to my friend Joe Bill Vardeman for this one).
"Things are aren't always what they seem" is an old saying, but it isn't a trite saying. Much wisdom resides in that oft repeated phrase.
We judge largely by external circumstances and appearances. That is all we have to go by. We don't always know the matters of the heart, such as intentions, motivations, fears.Suppose you see me, a preacher, walking into a bar. Do you assume I am living a double life, or that I am responding to a call from someone who has almost given in to drinking again, but needs encouragment to resist?
Jesus knew the heart and behavior of men did not always operate in sync. Sometimes seemingly good men had bad intentions and seemingly bad people actually had good hearts. Early in his ministry, when people began to believe in him, Jesus would not entrust himself to them because he knew what was in their hearts (John 2:23-25). Early, ecstatic followers could later prove to be equally energetic deserters. To Pharisees who judged him harshly because of the attention he received from a sinful woman Jesus said, "She loves me more than you do" (parahprased from Luke 7:47). Of a Gentile woman the Jewish disciples wanted to drive away Jesus said, "Woman, you have great faith!" He granted her request (Matthew 15:28).
How accurately can we judge from externals the latent possibility for faith, response, change, or growth in another person?
Warren Baldwin
(Note: In the tree picture you should be able to find 10 faces. Thanks to my Dad for this).
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15 comments:
Very good post! Loved the tree drawing. I found the 10 faces before I ever got to your hint at the bottom. It's very well done. Thank you for your post today.
Me again - I just wanted to say I wrote a little blurb on my blog about "reading" as you suggested. It's being very well received. Thank you.
That is amazing!!!!! The antelope rescue really hit home! Thank you so much!
I'm new to your post, coming from Tim Archer's blog. I found the faces. That was very interesting. But the race to save the antelope was awesome. I didn't know humans could outrun wild cats, and that it would stop when the prey was no longer there. Wow!
That's a great pic, much more that antelope rescue. Got an idea what "vitamin" that man took that day? lol.
Great post and how true! That's why we can't judge, only the Lord can.
Good for the runner! Although I know God put animals on the earth and some of them have to eat each other to survive, I hate seeing a lone antelope caught by a wiley cat. And judging by the cover is one of our worst human traits. See! I just did it. I judged that tiger as wiley when in his heart he's only trying to feed his family. Or was it a her?
Wow! My whole family gathered around to read this one. It was great! Entertaining animal rescue :) But your point was much deeper and I totally get it!
I don't know accurately we can judge people. It's very difficult and I try not to, because like you said, we really don't know people's motivations, etc.
So the top pic is not a tree? For the life of me I can't figure out what it really is. lOL
We don't always know the matters of the heart, such as intentions, motivations, fears.
I think this statement of yours above has come so true for me this past year and a half. I'm guilty of judging too quickly and have learned now there is usually so much more there.
Wow, I am impressed with your animal rescue!
The older I get the more I recognize hearts and behavior do not always line up. Your example was a good one. Having been in the ministry myself, I know what it is to be wrongly judged. People think they have all the facts, but often they are missing details on one side of things or the other, that would change the whole story, if they knew.
I am afraid we sometimes eat each other alive with our misguided judgment...
This is good post and it is a lesson I wish to keep close to my heart before I make a judgement that is not mine to make.
Hi Warren. This is in regard to your referencing my daughter's thesis. I think you need to get her permission to reference it. I'm not sure I should do that. She doesn't even know I wrote the post yet. She's so busy with the end of school activities for the year, she hasn't had much time to blog. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you referenced it, but you should probably hear that from her. I know I sure wouldn't mind if I were her! And thanks for asking. If you have an email I'll tell her to get in touch with you, or else through comments.
Great face tree. I also know that you run more than 60 mph, don't you? Well the Olympics are awaiting! I forgot to answer you. An expat is short for expatriate. Someone who lives abroad for a while. Great post today.
MontanaGirl - I enjoyed your story about reading. I would recommend everyone with small children read it! I think what I said is I would like to read her thesis. That may not be possible, though. But I'll bet it is very interesting. My daughter in college plans on getting a master's degree in reading. We may need to get the two of them communicating. I'll be your daughter could give mine some important tips.
Allen - Thanks. I wish I could really pull off a rescue like that!
Jeanne - this is some creative filming, isn't it!? I don't know how they pulled that off. Thanks for visiting Family Fountain. Please come back.
TwoFinches - I'm glad your family enjoyed it! My whole family watched, too, when a friend from church sent it to us.
Jessica - embedded within the tree are 10 faces. What is amazing about this is that if you just look casually you might miss what is "within" the tree. I thought it was a great illustration for the lesson on judging - we see the externals of people but not the heart. We have too look deeply and be very careful.
Terri - I've learned the same lesson. I've been on boths sides of this!
Things We Carried - I didn't know you were in the ministry. Maybe you could do a blog story or two about that.
Gutsy Writer - Thanks for the definition of expat! Yeah, I don't know why I haven't been to the Olympics yet! Sometime I'll have to do a story about my real running skills (or lack of).
Thanks everyone for reading my post. WB
Wow! At first glance, it is just a tree. When you asked the question, I looked again and then saw the other things in it. We sometimes are quick to judge other people based on what we "see" without really know what is behind it. Who are we to judge anyone? We all have our faults and would not liked to be judged just on first glance.
I saw all of the faces and I said...it's a family tree. Thanks for the comment on my quilt...hope I finish it some day!!!
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