 |
| Is this an old woman? Or a Young Woman? What you see is a reflection of your mindset. |
Seeing in believing? Certainly. But is what we believe true? We can only interpret what we see by what we believe to be true.
We see with our eyes. However, we interpret what we see with our brains. The eye has an an optic nerve and a retina that work together. The retina is the light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the inner eye that acts like film in a camera. The optic nerve is an extension from the brain to the eye that transfers visual information from the retina to the vision centers of the brain. There, the information is interpreted based on data in our brains. It tells us what we see. “That is Jim.” “She looks like Mary.”
If you have been told all of your life that a quacking bird with webbed feet and a bill is a rhinoceros, then every time you see this bird you will say, “That’s a beautiful rhinoceros”. Your brain interprets what you see using the information that is stored inside of it. This is precisely why so many people have issues dealing with people of other races. The image conjures emotion that brings about a certain behavior. We are all guilty of seeing something and interpreting it as what we believe it to be. Seeing is believing, right?
I have three brothers. When I see a man and woman together who are not married my first thought is usually, “I bet their siblings.” The person next me, based upon the information in his brain thinks, “Mmhmm I bet they are creeping.” Seeing is actually believing a version of the information that is inside our minds.
Because seeing and believing can be so sketchy, I choose to walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) When it comes to relationships, our brains are wired with the past. If something looks like it is the same thing, we may interpret it as the same thing. Therefore, it is important to enter each relationship with wisdom and FAITH. Wisdom tells us to use the data stored in our brains to make an accurate assessment of what we see. Faith ensures our brains are filled with purpose and universal truth. A new boss, a new friend or a new mate deserve to be seen as they are not as what we have already interpreted them to be. Mary J Blige sang “You Remind Me”. The song feels good when you think of a good love. But what if you remind me of a bad love I once knew? Do I pick up where I left off and go by what I see? Nope, I think I’ll walk in faith for a little bit and SEE what you DO. If it walks like a duck and quacks like duck, it’s a duck….unless of course someone taught me it’s a rhinoceros.