Funny the Way it is

I heard a clip of a song on the radio yesterday morning taking my teenage son to school (8th grade with 4.5 days left but who’s counting?) It caught my attention when the line …”a soldier’s last breath and a baby’s being born” played. With a little research I found some info on it. The title of the song is the title of this post. It’s by the Dave Matthews Band. Don’t know enough about them to link up here with a clear conscience but this particular song intrigues me.

The song is all about the contrasts that are simultaneously occurring in the world. When we think about the perspective we have on a situation don’t we assume everyone else has the same perspective? When we come across someone whose perspective is drastically different than ours we can get very upset. Isn’t our perspective right? Thinking about the ideas in this song made me think of the poem Six Men of Indostan. It’s a story of six blind men and an elephant. Do you know that one? It’s a great illustration of perspective.

Here’s my version: 6 blind men were walking and talking together. They came upon an elephant. Each man reached the elephant at a different point because of their position on the road. One of the men found the tail of the elephant, another the trunk, another a tusk, another a leg, another an ear, and the last man the elephant’s side. Each man described the elephant from his perspective, asserting that what they could feel is what an elephant is like: a rope, a snake, a spear, a tree, a fan, and a wall.

(photo credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/9_9hzZVjV8s )
So my point? How each of us views the world is due in large part to our perspective. Do we look at circumstances through the lens of our own perspective or do we view the world through the lens of God’s perspective: GRACE? There are so many things going on in the world right now that are tragic or that we disagree strongly with or that we are ready to argue with people about; asserting that our perspective as the right one.

The only right perspective is God’s perspective. He wants NONE to perish but all to come to repentance. If we are looking to Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith then we will notice He was not angry with those living a life of sin. (Apart from God’s Ways) Nope. Jesus was angry with the Religious people who were making it difficult for people to come to God. Now there’s a stop you in your tracks thought: am I one of the self-righteous defenders of the Law of God not willing to show Love to those who need it but instead am really ready to judge them for their choices?

So as we go along the Way, let’s examine our perspectives. Are we looking at the choices people make and judging them as if We are God? Or are we looking at them with the winsomeness of Christ and showing them grace (undeserved favor) in the middle of choices we disagree with?

Funny the way it is….