Our perspectives can be influenced by our experiences, observations, education and people who influence in our lives. I hope the following topic can be of use to youth ministries, family devotionals, family counselors and family home evenings.
Object lesson: Find a window outside the school or home that you can cover with dirt and mud. Through a succession of days add mud and dirt layer by layer by layer. Build the grind so that is quite heavy and obscures the view of the glass. Make sure that one section of the window remains clean of mud and grime.
The dirty window can be compared to our perspective. Have a class member of a family member. Look out the window that is not dirty and have them explain what they see on the other side. It is see the play yard, or some other scene to the outside have them described it in detail of what they see.
Now clean a new section of grim on the window, you might be able to knock off some of the dirt, grime, by a cloth. But don’t rub it completely clean or wash. Just clean enough so that you can see part of the outside to get an ‘idea’ of what are on the other end, but the smudge still obscures minute details.
The glass can be compared to perspective. We see a certain point of view. If you view one section of the window, we have a specific point of view. When we give ourselves the change to look at another section of cleaned window we see additional details of the overall picture that we didn’t notice before. But we don’t have a complete understanding of what we see because of the foggy image. As we clean away our biases and preconceived perceptions. It can clean away the fog of the window and we can see more clearly.
Start washing away different parts of the Window in cleaning circles in the glass, so that we can see more and more of what’s on the other side. Some of the area circles that are cleaned might be compared to politics, religion, other people that we don’t understand historical events, and concepts of science or opinion. As we began to wipe away obscured perceptions, our understanding can be broadened.
Discuss as a family or class. What are some of the things that could clean away things obscures our perceptions.
In my brainstorming some of the things I can think of are
- Learning history. Sometimes we may have a preconceived idea of a historical event without knowing the details of the origins of an event. We want to go to original sources of information do not rely on someone opinion, unless your have found a means to verify their accuracy. Many want to put their own biases and prejudices into moments of history or opinion.
- Make an effort to get to know people who you don’t understand. You might build open a dialogue with them to seek their opinion on things. Maybe ask why they feel certain way.
- Sometimes understanding people’s past/history or motives for why they say and do certain things can help that can help us understand them. Be careful of people who want to manipulate people for personal gain. Many people have the own private agendas when sharing knowledge of perceptions. Their goal may be the influence or obscure your ideas. My invitation for each of us be our own thinker and to resist the herd mentality. I have always liked the phrase ‘trust but verify’.
- In regards to our relationships to God, one thing I work on to know him is to understand how he’s acted in the past and to learn more of his teachings. I also have the option of personal prayer that can help me in private revelation. I may also seek the knowledge and example of those; I feel are good representations of God. This may be by word or by action.
- Sometimes me just getting a wider range of experiences. My insights have broadened when I have had the opportunity to travel. Reading, education or just self-study can help me broaden my understandings. This week I learned the origin of the Pledge of Allegiance. That knowledge now broadens my perception of what the Pledge of Allegiance represents to me.
I invite you as a class or family to brainstorm on various techniques and topics perception. Discuss how they get created originally and the negative and positive ways they can be broadened.
If you like to add to this blog, please do so in the comment section.
