It’s Not What It Looks Like.

I was watching 3 large agapanthus buds in the front garden from the lounge window. This plant hasn’t produced flowers apart from the year it was planted around 6 years ago and then they were very pretty but not very tall. Suddenly this year they are taller than the garden wall with thick sturdy stems with large buds waiting to burst out with the flamboyant and exotic looking blue flowers. I was concerned as I watched them as it looked as if they were being caught in the shrub next to them as they were battered by the wind. I don’t like the shrub next to the agapanthus plant. It’s messy and straggly and seems to want more room that I have allowed it. I keep threatening to dig it up but Colin likes it.

I then moved to the dining room and realised that the agapanthus wasn’t getting caught in the shrub I don’t like. All three stems are standing tall and straight and barely move as the wind hits them. It’s just the way it looked from a different viewpoint.

Some time ago I took a friend birdwatching with me. She was new to the hobby and spent most of the time looking at the sky, after all that’s where the birds are isn’t it? I became aware of some excitement in the hide, low mutterings and sighs of satisfaction, but because my focus was up I nearly missed the water rail that walked past on the ground. It all depends on how we look at things, where our focus is.

I remember seeing a post on Facebook of a young black boy picking up a purse from the pavement and starting to run. The picture stopped there for a moment and the question was asked what are you thinking? Most people thought the boy was stealing the purse but as the video restarted it became obvious that the boy was returning the purse to the lady who had dropped it. Sometimes we see what we expect to see.

We can see things differently and we have our own view point on many things. Different likes and dislikes, different political views, different ideas. We see things from our own view point. We see things as individuals with an individual past – the good and the bad. We see things as we expect to see them because that’s what social media or newspapers or TV tell us to expect. We see things through our own experiences.

In Matthew’s gospel we read that people had differing views on who Jesus was.

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus from Matthews 16

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being”.

Who do you say that Jesus is?

Jane