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I once had a business associate whose favorite line
was, "Perception is reality." Typically used in a negative sense,
this line basically means that people believe what they see and feel, and regard
what they see as truth, whether it is or not. For example, if one office
location of a multi-office business is believed to have slack employees that
don't work as hard as everyone else, then that office's slack reputation persists regardless of
what changes are made in the office staff. Even if employees from the
other locations are rotated to that office to work, and even if new employees
are hired for that office, the perception of that office as being slack
lives on. Once the "perception becomes reality," it is very hard for
people to break their thought pattern and see things any differently.
I heard another example of this
recently when a false rumor was spread at a high school that weapons were
present on school grounds. Through the students' text messaging, emails,
and cell phones, the rumor spread rapidly, and parents rushed to the school to
remove their children from the premises. However, a search of the school
grounds and lockers found that the rumor was false, and no weapons were present.
Nevertheless, the experience of rushing to the school to pick up their children
was ingrained in the parents' minds. For all intents and purposes, the
perception remained in the parents' minds that weapons truly had been at the
school, and they felt no reassurance in the truth that weapons had not been
found. Their perception became a reality in their minds.
But in these cases above, and in
many others in life, perception is not reality. Conclusions that we
reach based on information from the world around us that we see, hear, and feel
are often false. Often we are deceived by our senses. This is true
with spiritual things as well - what we perceive from the world can hamper,
stifle, and even prevent, our spiritual life. The Bible says,
"Set your minds on things above, not
on earthly things." - Colossians 3:2
"Do not conform any longer to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you
will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and
perfect will." - Romans 12:2
How can we look beyond worldly things and perceptions and see the
spiritual? For a believer in Jesus Christ, the "spiritual walk" is
strengthened by prayer, Bible study, worship, and fellowship with other
believers. But what of non-believers?
The examples that follow are visual examples where
perception is not reality. Our visual sense is deceived, and our
perception even actively changes over time. Combined with spiritual
truths, it is hoped that these examples will show a non-believer in God or
Christ how their worldly senses can be fooled, and how their minds can be opened up to
the spiritual reality of God. For a believer in God and Christ, these examples
reinforce how we can be deceived by the world around us, and also they help to
show the plight of the non-believer in developing a spiritual sense of God.
Start the Visual Tour of Perception vs. Reality, by Clicking Here
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