As I work with my partner to launch a new business there is a cycle that seems to be emerging. Each time we meet someone new, from potential client to investor, advisor, or someone that could help, we prepare by gathering all the background information and stories we can and then review them in context of our meeting. The process serves us well. We come in as prepared as we can be. We also have a shared understanding of the picture. And, our picture is as accurate as we can make it.
We have discovered an old truth that is easily forgotten. With all the research that one can perform, including internet searches, telephone calls across one’s network, and being open to any and everyone’s observation, the story we discover may not be the real story.
Life keeps whispering in the process, reminding me of the following.
One hears with a bias and perspective. While this can let us hear more clearly, it also shapes our hearing so that what comes through has a particular texture, shape, and color. As good as it is, our filters ensure that it may not be accurate or complete.
Diligence and perseverance should not be confused with being complete. We can work hard and still not get to our destination. We can stay with the task well beyond the limits we imagined and still have a long way to go.
As obvious as something is, it may not be what it is. Likely it is, odds are that it is, but it may not be.
An old back-story came to a clear conclusion. “The gossip is: “God has abandoned him. Pounce on him now; no one will help him.”” (Psalm 71.11) The setting seemed liked a perfect opportunity for an attack. It was not then; it is not now. There is more to the story. There are textures and nuances that we do not yet understand. Even the obvious is not. God lives in and through us. In the flaws and cracks that define us, God finds beauty and strength.
