A blonde, blue-eyed little girl, armed with a wide-open mind attended her first year in school. It was 1935, when America was still in the depths of the depression. The teacher held her class within her power. The teacher distributed papers that still smelled of the ink and gell in the cookie sheet-like pan. The little girl listened to the instructions. “Color the apple red.” She selected a crayon from the new box of crayons her parents and purchased for her. She had never owned such a wondrous box of colored sticks. She selected one – her mind rejoiced to see the red color spread over the apple on the paper.
The teacher walked among the wooden desks, her foot steps clicking on the wooden floor. She stopped at the girl’s desk and pronounced the color – red-orange incorrect. In horror, the little girl realized she had done something wrong and the girl stopped coloring. She realized that she selected the ‘wrong’ color. She was horrified. Immediately she wanted to rectify the mistake and asked for another paper to color. The teacher responded, “This is the only one you get.” The little girl had to live ‘with her mistake’ the rest of the day.
The perceptions were at war. The perception of the teacher This will be a good way to find out if the children can follow directions, and I can also learned to see if they know their colors.
The little six year old’s perception – “I am so excited, I am a big girl and coloring an apple with my very own box of crayons.
I am not sure what the result of this exchange was, but I know the effect this interaction had on the little girl. She felt like a failure – a failure that held her captive. She was not allowed to change the color she had chosen to color the apple. Years later, the little girl remembered that event as she walked down the fruit aisle and realized that apples are not created equal in colors. Some apples are red-orange.
I have often wondered why God chose blue for the sky, green for the grass, and a combination for the sea. It all has to do with perception. A quote – Truth is universal and the perception of truth is not. We each have our own perception of truth. Whose truth is correct? I love the verse, Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6.
Jesus is the absolute truth. Through the ages, this truth has been denied and derided by people’s perceptions. And the erroneous perceptions do not negate the truth of Jesus.
Meanwhile man takes truth and follows three steps within his mind – he selects, organizes and interprets information to arrive at his perception. This perception can be determined by our cognitive abilities, our personality, our gender or culture. (www.chrismaser.com/truth.htm.)
Mark Twain’s quote, gives us his view of perception, Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
Therefore, if we search for truth, the absolute truth, we must have a perfect understanding of what truth is. It is not of a variety of shades, but allowing our mind to reach out and touch the mind of the One who holds the Way to Truth.
Even as Anna writes in her blog (drivingwithanna.blogspot.com), to reach out to communicate, knowing that others have a different perceptions. Hearing the other’s perception builds bridges. To refuse to listen or to consider erases communication. Recently I visited with a friend from China. To reach understanding because of the barrier of language and different cultural perceptions, I tried to think as she did. The act of listening was heightened to an intense degree. The environment of productive listening is a smile.
Some of the most delightful areas of listening for me is conversing with children and asking them what did they mean by their comment. Both the speaker and the listener gain by coming to understanding and knowing the other’s thinking, and being the learner.
David writes in Psalm 25:5 – guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
Another scripture concerning perception through our eyes and ears…through which we hear the truth.
It is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him,” 1 Corinthians 2:9.
Learning to listen and hear God, makes our perception of His Words of Truth — His Truth — and not our own perception of His Truth, when we select what we wish to hear, and organize it in our way, hence, making our own perception in alignment with God’s Truth.
