The world is confusing. Just when you think you have a handle something catches you from the blind side. Nobody has the complete picture. Politicians want us to believe they have a handle on things – both the cause and the solution. In reality they are reacting to the latest fad, poll, or whisper of someone who has an agenda. Business leader act and behave as if they are in complete control – in reality they are as puzzled by today’s events as a stranger in a foreign land. Everyone wants the world to believe that he or she is in control, that every decision is taken with knowledge, insight, and foresight. Yet in the midst of it all everyone harbors a common secret; none of us is really sure what is going to happen next!
Even when we witness the same event there are different perspectives, gaps in our shared reality. It would be nice to think all of us, or at least one person saw everything but there are always missing pieces. Facts are never complete and if they are comprehension isn’t. Details are illusive and when they are all present we are blinded by our bias and rush to hold to our ego and confidence. What really happened? What are we seeing? Is there a message about the future in the tea leaves we call information, experiences, and events?
The problem is not new; it has been with us since time began. Cain saw life from his perspective, Abel God’s. The gap ended up with one dead and another banished. John saw “something like a huge mountain blazing with fire was flung into the sea.” (Revelation 8.8) He wasn’t sure what it was but he recorded the scene the best way he could.
You and I will continue to stumble through life, blinded by our selfishness, ignorance, and arrogance. Other’s hands, eyes, and ears are extensions of God. Gaps will be there until we are recreated. Helping hands, listening ears, and eyes that see are God’s way of making a difference, of closing the gaps.
