For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
- Isaiah 55:8-9
I.
Light. Visible light as we know it, is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths between the range of 380 nanometres to about 740 nanometres. It is how we see the world and everything in it. Visible light reflects off the surfaces of objects into our eyes, and are processed by our minds. This is the world we live in, this is reality.
Except, it would be foolish to think that visible light is all that exists in the electromagnetic spectrum. The sun that shines on this Earth giving it its main source of light emits more than just visible light, it emits ultraviolet radiation. Light of wavelength shorter than 380 nanometres. The earth itself remits energy from the sun into the atmosphere as infrared. Light we cannot see, yet fills the entire Earth.
Visible light of roughly 400 nanometres is blue. Visible light of roughly 550 nanmetres is yellow. Visible light of roughly 700 nanometres is red. What colour is ultraviolet? Have you seen infrared?
Do you know that there are animals in this world that can see this 'light'? A world that is more than just what we see around us. The colours of the things we see around us may not be really what they are, once you factor in all of the electromagnetic spectrum we cannot see. A world with visible light isn't really how the world is, it is just a tiny fragment of what little we can see. The real world, is much richer, full of colours that we cannot even begin to imagine.
And here we are, thinking we know it all, that we know what is real.
II.
Have you ever experienced moments when you thought you know it all?
Well, have you ever stopped and consider just how much knowledge and information exists in this world?
It's crazy to even begin to think about it.
And with just how little we know, how can we ever, be able to say that we are wise enough, smart enough, experienced enough, to know anything?
And if the truth is that we don't actually know enough to ever be able to confidently declare 'I know it', how could we so brazenly declare ownership of our own lives, thinking we can take charge. We're like little children who played racing games in the arcade and think we can drive real planes by ourselves.
We need to let the one who does know, take the driver's seat.
III.
There's that old story about a man who holds up a piece of paper. One side of it is completely black, while the other is completely white. He stands between the two other men, holds up the paper and asks 'what colour is this paper?'. The man on his left shouts 'white!' and the man on his left shouts 'black!', each believing themselves to be right and the other wrong.
It happens everywhere. As you were a young child you may have been upset with your parents for certain things which you believed you were right. Yet if you had looked through the eyes of your parents, you would have understood, and perhaps realised that you would have done it no differently.
We are limited to only our mere perspectives. As we grow and mature, we learn to try to imagine ourselves in the shoes of others, meaning to attempt to see it from their perspective. Even then, its difficult and it is imperfect.
And life as a whole is far more complicated. What if you were omniscient? What if you had perfect knowledge of all of life itself. Could you even begin to imagine what differences in perspective you would have?
We can't, we are only human. Our perspectives are so terribly narrow, so pathetically limited, that in comparison to an omniscient perspective, it almost seems worthless.
Yet we regard our perspectives with such great importance. It is inevitable that we see life through our own eyes, it is the best we can do, but we lie to ourselves if we think that our inferences and deduction based on our perspectives can even begin to come close to what would be the perfect.
When we live life using our own wisdom (if it could be called wisdom), we make ourselves to be like God, but we fool no one.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
- 1 Corinthians 1:25
Epilogue
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
- Proverbs 3:5-6
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