By Dick Duerksen
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| © 2008 Dick Duerksen, Storyteller Maranatha Volunteers International |
| Adam’s perspective changed once he saw Eve. His transition from discouragement to elation was instantaneous!
Simon’s perspective changed when Jesus “called in” several schools of fish. The net-full of reality transformed Simon into Peter and moved him from fishing for fish to fishing for men. Pilot’s perspective on Jesus changed when he heard from his wife. “I have suffered many things because of this innocent man. Have nothing to do with him.” Though his perspective shifted, his actions did not, and Pilot is know best for disobeying his wife. Brenda and I were in the Washington Cascades Sunday, just long enough to stop on a Forest Service road and “smell the Lupines.” The pines were tall and golden. The grass was deep and brilliantly green. There were thousands of wildflowers beneath the trees – clumps of Columbia Lilies, Rose Paintbrush, False Solomon’s Seal, and meadows of Lupines. And there was sunshine. Beams of gold and bright searched through the trees and illuminated rows of purple-and-blue Lupines, giving the brilliant grasses a dowdy look beneath the stunning wildflower pillars. I used a long telephoto lens, and collected views that would be seen by passing eagles. Then I switched to a wide wide-angle lens, and photographed the forest as a gopher might see it. Then I wondered how an owl might see the flowers. I kept the 16mm lens but looked at the Lupines from an imaginary “owl-post” on the first limb of a towering pine. The change of perspective changed everything. The “towers” became “buttons” and the “clumps of Lupines” look like a ripidly-growing “ground cover” that has spread across the entire forest floor! One afternoon when Jesus finally tired of explaining his mission to testy scribes he just spoke as clearly as he could, providing all listeners with a simple, understandable, transformational, and earth-shaking perspective on his role. “I have come so you can have LIFE,” he said, “Life full, abundant, and free. Life as God has it!” His description is recorded in John 10:10. It’s clear. It’s new. It’s revolutionary. It’s a perspective that changes how we look at God, how we look at daily chores, how we treat each other, even how we use our time. When Jesus changes our perspective, he changes everything! |