Well I guess it was inevitable, I was proven wrong for the first time this year. Ha, if that was the first time it would be some sort of record or a miracle might be a better estimation. Yet, the circumstances under which this particular incident occurred made it a Flat Tire Thought worth sharing. In addition, the message of today's FTM is extremely applicable for our current culture and the emergence of the term "fake news".
One day this past week, Missy and I were outside watching Ella run off the power pack full of energy she constantly has in ready supply when Missy stopped Ella to point out the moon up in the sky. Oh, did I mention that it was around 3:00 in the afternoon? Well I was situated about 10-15 feet away from where Missy was as I had found my resting spot under the canopy of trees that basically surrounds our house, and from where I was sitting there sure wasn't a moon present in the sky, and anyway it was early afternoon in my mind, definitely not time for the moon to be visible in the sky. Not only did Missy tell Ella to look up at the moon, she named it, "Come look at the crescent moon up in the sky!" So, my mind immediately decided that my wife must be mistaken, she probably was seeing some type of cloud up in the sky, because as I looked up in the sky there definitely wasn't a moon visible, and certainly not a crescent moon for sure. Being me, I decided I needed to get up from my shade protected settlement and venture over to where Missy was to dispel this tale she had created in her mind. I hated to break it to her that she was wrong, but what are husbands for anyway? Much to my chagrin, when I moved over to where Missy was sitting there settling in for the night ahead was this sliver of a rock grinning at me as if to say, "See, maybe you don't know everything after all". I owed Missy an apology, which I willingly gave, but then when I went back to my seat I almost wanted to renege on my remorse as I could no longer see the moon I just witnessed from Missy's view point. So the question came to mind, who was right? Was the moon in the sky because of where Missy was situated and had a view of it, or was the moon not really there because I could not see it from my perspective thus not being able to prove that it was really there in the middle of the daylight hours? I guess, the basic answer from the view point of science is obvious, of course the moon is in the sky and depending on the time of year and position of the moon in relationship to the sun and earth may very well be visible in part during the middle of a bright summer day.
Yet that answer is the obvious, scientific answer. Let's hypothesize for just one second. What if I had never seen a moon, especially in the middle of the day? Could I, based on the view only 15 feet away from Missy, be correct if I said I don't see it, so it doesn't exist or at least counter with a "no it isn't in the sky you must be mistaken"? Sounds reasonable to me. But, if I happened to be Missy sitting about 10-15 feet from where I was sitting, she would think I had literally lost my mind or at least my aging vision because to her the moon was in plain, non-obstructed view. Same sky, different perspective. Think about big cities versus being on a hilltop out in the country with no light pollution at all. If all I had ever been exposed to was big city lights I may never have had the pleasure of seeing a star filled night. Does that mean it doesn't exist? By no means, but to the person that has always lived in the middle of downtown Manhattan starry nights may be something of fairy tale proportion. Same sky, different perspective.
So, it is with the phenomenon of "fake news" in my opinion. I read a commentary on the whole debate of stay at home versus reopening businesses and social distancing versus hysteria about this novel virus. The title was "Same Storm, Different Boats". Exactly, we each have our own opinion and as far as I am aware, there isn't a way to determine whether my opinion or yours is absolute or infallible. As a matter of fact, my guess is in relation to the previous analogy whether you are right or wrong, depends a great deal on your perspective. Conservative, liberal, moderate liberal, or ultra conservative, wherever you land on the spectrum of political philosophy you probably think you are right based on your ideology and in your mind, everyone else is wrong. CNN or Fox network, Democrats or Republicans, or left wing and right wing more than likely our definition of what is exactly "fake news" is can be traced back to where you stand to the left or the right of the center.
Does it have to be that way? Do we have to be so dad burned right? Can we not assume that the reason someone feels the way they so passionately feel about an issue or pandemic or political stance is because of the perspective they were raised or the background knowledge they possess about that specific topic? Is it really fake news or is it just that someone with a different perspective from where I am sitting sees a whole different view of the sky than I do from my disadvantaged view? When I got up and moved a little closer to Missy it was obvious that the moon was visible in the mid-afternoon, but when I went back to my seat in the shade, it was absolutely fair for me to proclaim, "I don't see it, but maybe you can from where you are sitting". Am I correct? Is my wife correct? Or is it possible that we both were correct to a certain degree and in some ways, we both could be proven to be somewhat incorrect. Call it semantics, call it perspective, call it what it is an opinion based on background knowledge, but please for heaven's sake stop calling it "fake news".
When did it become alright to not respect someone else's opinion? Did I say respect, what about even validating that someone could potentially have a different point of view from my egotistical mindset. I fondly remember as an elementary principal meeting with parents about little Billy's behavior in class that day, or little Jenny's remarks she made about a "former" best friend. In most of those meetings we were able to come to a resolution about what the appropriate behavior should have been, and what an appropriate consequence was going to be, but in a few of those conferences the final outcome was one of us saying, "I guess we will just have to agree to disagree". That was okay! Did either side come out winning? Not what mattered. We both aired our point of view from the perspective at which we each were coming, and when we realized that we weren't going to come to a joint agreeable decision, we did what two adults should do, agree that we don't see eye to eye and then move on to bigger more important issues such as how to best educate their son or daughter.
So, who is right? We are not going to settle that one here today, and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say we probably won't ever find an absolute answer for that one. But I can tell you this in conclusion, if we place our faith in an omnipotent, all knowing, all seeing God then it won't matter who's right or wrong. Two things to consider as we leave our time together today. One, Paul states in Romans 8:28 that "All things work together for good to them that love God to them which are called according to his purpose.” Not to our benefit or to our position on the philosophical liberal or conservative spectrum. All things work together for good according to God's plan for your life, my life, and ultimately for this big old rock on which we live. Number two, God's plans are not like our plans. We plan and forecast our ideologies based on what we perceive to be true, right, and good. The prophet Isaiah sets this straight in chapter 55:8-9 with this declaration, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your way and my thoughts than your thoughts." So, before you go and get all high and mighty, just keep in mind that none of us are capable of thinking in the same frame of mind as our God, we aren't supposed to, so we need to stop labeling others as wrong and just keep in mind that from their perspective, they may or may not be able to see the moon in the sky!
Coach Carter
No comments:
Post a Comment