The Plumbline

The facts are the same, the filter is different. What we filter out or allow to filter 'in' within our minds determine how we will respond to information presented to us. We call this a cognitive bias - the filters we apply within our minds based upon our experiences and/or our preferences. The facts will be the same in how we see things, but we can see it quite differently, can't we? The frame of our thought or situation defines how we see the situation. We change the 'frame' of our day and we can change the way we interpret the events of that day. The filter or frame are dependent upon us - we choose the filter we apply or the frame in which we see things in life. We cannot control what happens TO you, but you can control HOW you see it. I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect . Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out th...

Albert Pike once penned a reminder to all of us: "The eye of the cheerful and of the melancholy man are fixed on the same creation; but very different are the aspects which it bears to them." In other words, we all see the same things, but we see them in quite different ways. The way we interpret things is often based upon the circumstances we find ourselves in, or the experiences we have amassed over our lifetime. We "see", but the similarity of what we "behold" is different. It is quite possible to gaze at God's creation one day, seeing one thing that captures our attention, then see it totally differently the next day. Why is that? Today's perceptions may be 'colored' or 'clouded' by whatever is occurring deep within our mind, body, and soul at that moment in time. It is good to see, but it is even better to see as God sees - with freshness, renewal, and grace! What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at y...

A man born blind - what resulted in his blindness? In the ninth chapter of John we find the story of a man born blind - forced to spend each day begging for something to fill his belly - something to provide for his welfare. The day he met Jesus was a day just like all the rest - yet it was soon to be unlike all the rest. He was in his usual spot for begging - awaiting a passerby with a tender heart who might put a mite or two in his cup. This day, as Jesus was passing by, his disciples pose a question to Jesus about the man's blindness. Their question centered on who had sinned - the man himself, or his parents. You see, we often see the 'disease' in another and wonder who is to blame for the 'disease' rather than to recognize the heart and soul buried deep within that disease. We see the outward and question why - Jesus sees the inward and provides answers that go much deeper! Jesus then said, "I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light ...

As a member of the human race, I speak as one fully aware of how we are so consumed with what "looks good" - many times judging a book by what we see on the cover without inspecting the pages to see what is contained within. The perception of eyes often becomes the only method we utilize to determine the "goodness" or "evil" of a certain thing or person. We set ourselves up for accepting things that are clearly outside of God's best for our lives when we are only "cover readers". While the surface may be soft or hard, bold or muted, or even seemingly impenetrable, it remains just that - the surface! There is ALWAYS something beneath the surface - sometimes begging for discovery, other times hoping no one will ever know! Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good; God probes for what is good.   (Proverbs 16:2) Surface or real? David and Bathsheba - David was King of Israel, his troops are out fighting the battle to take more territory i...