Turning again?

Have you ever seen a little sign posted somewhere and it just spoke to you?  One such sign read: "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." (Wayne Dyer)  I don't usually get into many of these "self-help" messages, but I kind of like this one because it speaks about perspective and perception.  We can have one perspective in life and see things completely different from the person sitting across from us at the dinner table tonight.  We are in the same room, breathing the same air, but seeing things in life quite uniquely.   I honestly believe this is how arguments ensue - one person seeing things from a totally different perspective than the other, never the two to meet, so to speak.  One takes their perception of the issue simply because of the perspective they have maintained.  To change one's perception of the issue at hand, one must first change his perspective!

Turn to me and receive my gentle correction; watch and I will pour out my spirit on you; I will share with you my wise words in order to redirect your lives. (Proverbs 1:23 VOICE)

Throughout scripture, this concept of "turning" is frequently illustrative of such principles as repentance, renewal, and restoration.  This suggests to me the essence of each of these is really a change in perspective - a change in position, so to speak, which influences how it is we will see things, deal with them, and be able to move beyond them.  If you ever owned one of those multi-colored blocks known as a Rubik's Cube, you know what I am about to say is true.  No matter how many times you change your view of the object or issue in front of you, until you begin to change the actual "perspective" of it there is no change which brings you closer to the "solution" you are desiring to achieve.  You have to move those spinning parts of the cube to actually get alignment of the colors.  Just spinning the block itself doesn't change it!

Turning (changing perspective) actually involves embracing something new (receiving).  We don't move toward a solution in life until we are willing to put forth some action on our part.  For the couple sitting at the dinner table, to appreciate each other's perspective of what they are seeing, one has to get up, move to the other person's side of the table, and then sit as closely to that person as possible.  To change one's perspective, one has to move a little!  Yet the one who moved may not fully see what the other sees because they are not "exactly" seeing things from the other person's perspective. To do so, one must be totally and completely in the same position, but even that doesn't assure perceiving exactly the same.  Why?  What we see is "colored" by our past experiences and learning.  This may be why we struggle so much with trusting God on occasion - we don't have his exact perspective, so we find it difficult to trust him fully.  In those moments, the best we can do is draw as close as possible, then appreciate what is before us, prepared by him for our journey in life.  

We often don't need a "new beginning" as much as we just need to turn around from where we are in order to begin to see things in a totally different light.  Just sayin!