Perception Isn't Enough

(by Lorie Codispoti)

I like dandelions! I’d be fine if my whole yard was filled with them.

A few days ago I appealed to my husband to wait another week before mowing the grass because I thought the polka-dotted lawn was pretty, and I enjoyed watching the bees go from flower to flower. Given that he’s allergic to bees that probably wasn’t the best way to frame my appeal. As a result, the yellow beauties fell fate to the decapitating mission of the lawn mower blade, forcing our bees to find more socially acceptable flowers for their honey-making business?

Did you know that up until the 1800s people would pull the grass from their lawns to make room for dandelions (and other “weeds”)?

So, what happened to change their status and dethrone these crowned jewels?

Simple. Perception.

To perceive is to “receive impressions of external objects through the medium or instrumentality of the senses…” (Webster’s 1828) It’s what you interpret from your senses. I might see a lawn of maintenance-free flowers while someone else sees weeds that will choke out their grass. It’s a matter of perception.

I recently listened to a conversation between a christian and an atheist. The atheist noted that humans are “sense making beings.” He posited that our brains use our senses to observe how our world works, and asserted that because of this process no one can know truth. This might sound reasonable IF I thought that perception was the only tool in our toolbox.

Perception is important, but it is not enough.

Why? Well, for one thing our perception is limited. Compared to the heightened senses of the animal world, we’d be at a loss if this was all we had to evaluate reality.

Look at the bees. Because they were created with the ability to sense the Earth’s magnetic fields, they never get lost. Imagine that! Buzzbee’s queen always knows he’ll be home on time for dinner. Perhaps if I had the ability to sense magnetic fields I’d never have to experience the fear of getting lost (something I’m really good at).

Perception is also limited because it makes us the center from which everything is interpreted. “If I say dandelions are pretty, who are you to say otherwise?”Can you see how the atheist would come to the conclusion that we can’t know truth when you have everyone concluding something different? Without an objective approach (something that allows us to evaluate our surroundings from an outside-looking-in perspective) reality is up to individual interpretation. How confusing is that?

Thankfully, God didn’t leave us to ourselves. He created humans with an exclusive feature that no other creature possesses.

His likeness. (Gen.1:27)

We have a nature that resembles our Creator - characteristics that enable us to tap into more than what our limited perception allows.

For example: We’ve been given 1) A moral conscience. 2) The ability to think and reason in abstract ways. 3) And, like our Creator, humans have been endowed with the ability to create through invention, composition, art, etc.

With these universal tools, believers can then add the power of God’s indwelling Spirit, which gives us the ability to rightly align our perception to God’s perspective and see things the way they really are. This enables us to view things from the outside-in (objective) rather than the inside-out (subjective).

People may have thought dandelions were pretty before the 1800’s, but their value was derived from the medicinal properties God gave them. Perhaps if I’d of framed my appeal this way they’d of kept their heads.

Allowing perspective to rightly align my perceptions has another benefit.

It expands my capacity to feel empathy - for my friend who had two abortions, for the person who left their family to pursue their same-sex attraction, for the person addicted to a substance that is destroying their body, etc.

Hebrews 4:15 tells us that “We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses…”

Jesus Christ came in the likeness of man and modeled God’s perspective to us. If we aspire to “be like Christ” then we have the capacity to love those who differ with us. With the goal of planting seeds we can challenge them to question the validity of their perceptions and consider God's perspective. It may not produce a field of dandelions, but if cultivated it will provide the medicine their soul craves.

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Listen And You Will Hear

(by Lorie Codispoti)

They call it the “death rattle.” It’s the very distinct gurgling sound that a dying person can make as they near death, and if you’ve ever heard it you will never forget it.

One care taker’s manual explains that the sound is the result of air passing through mucus that pools in the throat of a person who no longer has the strength to cough and clear them.

Watching her father die, one writer noted, “In death, you discover the body is baroque in its unintended flows and suppurations. It contorts and contracts until, finally, it returns to the clay from which it was pulled.”

I Can Hear It

I’ve always been very sensitive to sound. I’m practically blind without my glasses, however, I can hear things that many people cannot. I liken it to a super power, or the closest I will ever get to one anyway. The downside is that this ability comes fully equipped with an equal measure of kryptonite. Things don’t have to get very loud before I’m reaching for my earplugs.

Decibels are what we use to measure sound, and anything above 150 will burst your eardrums. (Like standing next to a jet taking off, or firing a shotgun without ear protection.) Many soldiers have even died in battle due to the “blast overpressure” from explosions. The most interesting thing about this kind of damage is that there is no external evidence of injury. It’s all internal: eardrums burst, lungs rupture, and the GI tract turns to mush.

But the sound I want to draw your attention to is one that extends beyond the measure of decibels. Most people cannot hear it, yet it’s the loudest noise of all. I can hear it, and If you pay attention you will be able to hear it too.

Horton Heard It

Just because we can’t hear it doesn’t mean it’s not there.

In my favorite Dr. Seuss book, Horton Hears A Who, the biggest creature in the Jungle of Nool is the only one who can hear the tiny creatures that live on a speck of dust. They are too small for Horton to see, but he vows to save them nonetheless. His jungle neighbors, however, can’t hear anything and don’t believe him, so they mount an opposition.

The story has a good ending, though.

Horton cared enough to risk the persecution of his neighbors, but the ultimate thing that saved Whoville were the people who rallied together, with one collective voice.

God Hears It

When God confronts Cain about murdering his brother He says, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” (Gen.4:10)

Did you hear that (pun intended)? Abel’s blood “cried out” to God? Reading this sent a chill through me. It also sparked my curiosity.

Does blood have a measurable sound? I’m not talking about the swishing noise we hear as it passes through the various chambers of the heart, but the cells themselves. Do they emit the kind of sound that only God can hear? Turns out, they DO!

An advanced form of ultrasound, called photoacoustics, harnesses the power of light to pick up the sound a blood cell makes. This is exciting news for cell whisperers, as it puts them on the edge of being able to identify factors that differentiate between healthy and sick cells.

(Imagine that? Science, once again, confirming what Scripture tells us.)

Can You Hear It?

Do You Hear What I Hear? This question was posed in a song written by a couple in 1962, as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. They were asked to write a Christmas song, but the couple was so burdened by the threat of annihilation that they found it difficult to harness their creativity…

...UNTIL this experience …

“In the studio, the producer was listening to the radio to see if we had been obliterated. En route to my home, I saw two mothers with their babies in strollers. The little angels were looking at each other and smiling. All of a sudden, my mood was extraordinary.” A glimpse of these babies filled Noel Regney’s heart with poetry. The little ones reminded him of newborn lambs. Thus, the song begins, “Said the night wind to the little lamb….”

We may not be facing off with the residents of Nool, or fearful of nuclear war. We may not have literally committed murder, but our hands are saturated with the blood of over millions of babies (3,000+ a day), and the blood of Christ is the only thing that can wash us clean.

“With a voice as big as the sea” their blood cries out.

Can you hear it? It’s the silent death rattle of murdered babies and the cacophony is deafening. Take out the earplugs and be sobered to action by what you hear.

I echo Horton’s plea, “Please don’t harm all my little folks who have as much right to live as us bigger folks do.”

Let us cry out with a loud voice! And may the collective sound reach the ears of our Father as we weep for the unborn and beg for His mercy.

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Which Version Of The Pilgrim's Progress Is Right For Me

After reading my last article (Faithful - found here: GloryUsGate.blogspot.com), several requests for a recommendation came to my attention. 

So, this week I thought I’d write a follow-up article addressing these requests & giving my thoughts on how to chose the right version of The Pilgrim’s Progress for your reading pleasure.

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Which Version of The Pilgrim’s Progress Is Right For Me?

It’s a great, but hard, question to answer, precisely because there are so many versions to chose from. It’s kinda like trying to decide which Bible to choose.

My simple, cheap, & quick answer would be to go to your local public library & check out several versions (children’s & adult) & scan them to see which one suits you best. 

For a more thorough response to your question, however, I’d suggest narrowing down a few parameters. 

Do this by asking yourself the following:

~ Who is my audience?

Personally, I can’t get away from children’s versions, evidenced by the fact that I have more of those than adult versions. I prefer them no matter my audience. I think I’d even choose one of these for my book club.

~ Is this for reading aloud or is it for personal, silent reading?

It makes a difference because if you plan to read the book aloud to your children, you want a version that flows. (The original is written in Old English & reads like a script.)

I enjoy silent reading, but I love audio versions. When I was homeschooling, we always read our history books together. One of my favorite things today is to read aloud with my husband. Whenever we take a car trip we read a book together.

~ Do illustrations matter? If so, do I prefer black & white, color - modern or antique?

I have two very old versions, (published in 1872) & the artwork is exquisite. There is such amazing detail that I could sit & look at the B&W paintings all day. 

The children’s versions very greatly. Some I like; others I could do without.

The version I’m currently reading to my grand-littles is Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen L. Taylor, & illustrated by Joe Sutphin. This may even be my all-time favorite children’s version. They completely hooked me with the illustrations, & proceeded to reel me in with the way the author used animals as characters. This volume includes a revision of John Bunyan’s accompanying story about Christian’s wife, Christiana, and her journey to the Celestial city. I basically told my husband I could not live without this version. LOL!

~ Do I plan to incorporate this into our curriculum?

If so, you may want to consider a version that has an accompanying study guide. Helen Taylor has another children’s version (same title as the one above), that you can use with Deanna Conrad’s LPP Adventure Guide. Unfortunately, my preferred version (above) does not come with any kind of study aids, so I use the Adventure Guide, along with a teacher’s edition of Pilgrim’s Progress I purchased, from A Beka Books, decades ago to help me formulate discussion questions for my littles. (See why I need all these versions. ;-) )

I should add that there are a variety of free online versions, both text and audio, if you prefer that route.

I hope this helps to inform your decision for the second-only-to-the-Bible best book ever published, printed, & sold.

Enjoy!