What I See Is Who I Am

I've been thinking about how Thomas will grow up and what kind of man he will be. While there will be many influences in his life, Tom and I will be his greatest for some time --for better or worse. With that in mind, I will need to pass on to him the skills I have learned which enhance my life. One of those is that I'm the champion of the underdog. I'm the one who sticks up for the person everyone is picking on. Find someone who is mean and I'll chalk it up to low self-esteem or some other excuse. Granted this trait came later in life. And, hopefully, this is a good trait. The following is an excerpt of an email I received, which makes me think it is.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:3, NIV).

Ken Crockett, in his book, I Once Was Blind, But Now I Squint, shares the experience of Pastor Ed Manning who told "about a situation when a woman approached him to ask a question. As she drew closer to him, he tipped his head back to look through the bottom lenses of his bifocals to focus on her more clearly. ‘There you go again!’ the woman exploded. ‘You stick your nose up in the air every time I talk to you! Who do you think you are? I’m sick of your arrogant attitude!’" Manning was taken aback by her outburst of anger. ‘You don’t understand,’ he explained. ‘I’m not sticking my nose up in the air at you. I just can’t see you when you get near me. I’m tilting my head back so I can see you through the bottom half of my bifocals.’"

Sound familiar?

Blaise Pascal said, "We view things not only from different sides but with different eyes." Or to put it another way, "We see things not the way they are, but the way we are." For instance, if I have a lot of unresolved anger, I will see things through angry, critical eyes. If have unresolved fears, I will view things through fearful eyes.
If I have a negative attitude, I will look at things through negative eyes. If I am insecure, I will see things through insecure eyes. If I am a jealous person, I will view things through jealous eyes, and so on. Whatever I see--the way I see it will always be twisted to match my distorted perception of reality and in so doing I will rationalize my every thought and justify my every action. A very unhealthy and
self-defeating way to live. It is true, what I see is who I am.

It is equally true, if I am a loving person, I will see things through loving eyes. From www.actsweb.org

I have found that the more defensive, angry and hurt I am, the more I see things as those which are being directed to me as being intentionally mean or hurtful, even if they are not. The misspoken word or inconsiderate action is an attack, not a mistake. The more forgiving I am the more those things just roll off my back. Life is easier when I look at things through loving, forgiving eyes. Rose-colored glasses you say? Maybe so, but I’ll take those over any other color and hopefully, Thomas will too.