Imagining a Fishing Boat

 

I’ve never been on a fishing boat. I’ve especially never been on a fishing boat during a massive storm. I can imagine how terrifying that would be, though…to feel the boat creaking and rocking back and forth uncontrollably, waves crashing and rising over the top of the boat then spilling in, threatening our safety. I can imagine the feeling of hopelessness when even our captain tells us our greatest efforts are of no use…that total resignation that this is the end.

I can even imagine the utter confusion in watching someone sleep peacefully, or dare I say confidently, amidst the chaos. I might even find it a little obnoxious. We are all racing around doing everything humanly possible to battle this storm, and this guy can’t be bothered from his beauty-sleep?

And then as a last resort, we holler out, louder than the roaring winds.

The Bible says the disciples cried out something along the lines of, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” (Matthew 8:25 NIV). But, since we are imagining things here, I’d imagine their tone was more like, “Um, hello!!! Could you give us a hand, here!!!”

Jesus awakens, I’d imagine with a good-grief-sigh, and says, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (Matthew 8:26 NIV). Of course He calms the storm, but it’s His pointed commentary to His disciples that’s always struck me.

“You of little faith…”

And maybe I imagine this part this way because I always wake up on the sarcastic side of the bed, but it’s as though He’s saying, “How many times will it take before you get it?! You’ve seen me turn water to wine, perform miraculous healings, drive out evil spirits, fill your nets with fish, and literally raise the dead. Yet, here we are, in this storm, and instead of just saying something to me before you absolutely freaked out, you turned to me when all else failed…as though I’ve not been in this very boat, in your storm, all along…like you think I actually don’t know it’s raining?.”

I imagine Jesus was at least a little disappointed, but He wasn’t surprised. To the disciples, the moment was about the storm. But to Jesus, it was about their hearts. Heaven speaks, and nature obeys. It’s been that way since Genesis. We consider this a miracle, but Jesus knows the true work, the true miracle, is not commanding the winds, the diseases, the fish, the water, or the wine. Can He do those things? Sure. But the true miracle is the transformation and purification of the heart.

I imagine Jesus’s slumber was really some extreme spiritual quiet time as He prepared for what awaited He and the disciples on the other shore. When Jesus got in the boat that day, He told the disciples He wanted to go across the lake. I doubt He told them why. Chapter 5 in the book of Mark gives us the rest of the story. “Hey guys let’s take a boat ride across the lake” probably sells better than, “We need to go see a terrifying guy about his demons. Yes, that’s demons, with an ‘s’…Lots of them. The chains cannot bind him anymore. Also there will be pig suicide. It’s all good. Nothing to worry about. You’ll see when we get there.”

I guess if Jesus would have lead with that, the storm wouldn’t have felt like such an issue. On second thought, though, I wonder if the disciples would have agreed to go, at all. Jesus already knew that his closest company still didn’t get it before they even encountered the storm. Truly, the storm was just a distraction, and the enemy attempted to seize the opportunity to chip away at the faith the disciples would need when reaching the shore. Jesus knew the true miracle waiting to happen was on the other side of the lake, and he knew that the demon-possessed heart was not the only heart in need of transformation. Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us that His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. Jesus knew his followers lack of faith would prevent them from even getting on the boat if they knew what awaited them, and their reaction to the storm only highlighted that point.

I’ve never been on a fishing boat during a massive storm. But I’ve been through some proverbial tsunamis. I’ve cried out to Jesus, “Can’t you see, I’m drowning, here!!!” And over, and over…no matter how many times it takes, He reminds me of His presence.

I’ve never been on a fishing boat during a massive storm. But I’ve been through the storm of 2020, and 8 days in to 2021, it’s starting to feel like we’ve reached “the other side”…the side with suicidal farm animals.

We cannot let the storm of 2020 rob us of the faith we will most certainly need as we arrive on the shore. Perhaps Jesus has called us here, because this is where the true miracle begins. I don’t know what will happen with he pandemic. I don’t know if it will snow on Sunday or what this year’s tornado season will bring. But I do know that we serve a Father who, if it is His will, can transform and restore our souls. He can cast out the demons and renew the hearts of His children.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though we are living with this confidence. It seems that we of such little faith (or perhaps with such little short term memory) have forgotten the many ways He has shown his presence in bold magnificence and in calm whispers. It is practically impossible to embrace this when we look to Heaven as a last resort…when we throw up our hands in resignation and lament, “Well, all we can do is pray,” as though prayer is not our most magnificent gift.

In 2021 let us reach for Jesus, first thing. Let us remember He is taking us on a journey to transform the heart…the hearts of others and our own. As I imagine my storm, I will pray Proverbs 3:5-6 each day…multiple times a day probably…”Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

Perception, Reality, and the Worst Catchphrase

I’m here to move some cheese today and talk about a pet peeve of mine. Go ahead and file this one under “Emily’s Unpopular Opinions.”

I already know it’s an unpopular opinion, because the contrary quote has become so deeply engrained in our beliefs for over three decades that we’ve forgotten its origin and adopted it as a modern day idiom of sorts. “Perception is reality.”

Ladies, gentlemen, friends, and family…

Perception. Is. Perception.

Reality. Is. Reality.

And while perception is real, plays and important part in our real lives, and is influenced by reality, it is NOT reality.

Reality, though influenced by actions based on perception, is reality.

We latch to this phrase in all of its Yoda-like cleverness. It is succinct. It is pithy. It has a meta-ethical, existential ring to it.

It has become the unofficial battle-cry from organizations of all walks and the launch pad for other slogans such as, “Speak your truth!”

This is not simply semantics. Not only is this statement positively false, it is also dangerous.

But first, a brief history lesson. It was not, in fact, the all-wise, little green, backward talking, Star Wars character who first suggested “Perception is Reality.” Instead, it was political strategist, Lee Atwater, who coined this phrase in the 1980s when working on George H. W. Bush’s presidential campaign and speaking to his own political tactics! Please take a moment and reflect on all of the warm-fuzzy feelings and inspirational wisdom you glean from a presidential campaign ad, and allow the root of this phrase to sink in. This is a concept to define how media controls the societal narrative.

“Perception is reality,” is grounded in the premise that we humans are so sensitive to suggestion, especially that which is emotionally or scandalously charged, that all that is needed in order to control our puppet strings is not actual truth and facts…no no no…the path to victory is paved with what you and I are willing to believe. Whether it is based in fact or fiction is simply irrelevant.

If I, the puppeteer, can convince you, the puppet, that you are this or that and you live in a society that is this or that, then I can essentially cause you to behave, spend, and vote as such.

I can convince you that you are elite. I can convince you that you are a victim. I can convince you that you are elite because you are a victim.

The quote used to highlight human gulability and prove why political manipulation is successful, is now adopted by the masses so we can suppress OURSELVES! We have become slaves to our own feelings and emotions. This propaganda is inherently preposterous, condescending, and ultimately terminal.

I have terrible vision. TERRIBLE. Like, the kind where my glasses prescription is very likely stronger than your 90-year-old grandmothers’. If I were to get behind the wheel of a car without glasses or contacts, I cannot see where the lanes are marked. To my visual perception, the lanes do not exist. Realistically, the lines are there, and everyone else can see them! I will then interact with my world according to my perception. So, when I REALLY crash into another car, not only is my perception inaccurate, it’s also irrelevant!

Luckily, when I was in third grade, my parents and teachers were able to identify that my visual perception did NOT align with reality, and my mother took me to the eye doctor. I suppose she could have just thrown her hands up and said, “Well, perception is reality! Go live your blind little truth, Emily Ann!” Instead, my mom took me on a journey…it was to Lens Crafters in Towne East Mall…to seek reality!

So now, when I get behind the wheel of a car, I have tools to correct my distorted perception. I can see what is actually in front of me. I can engage with the REAL environment.

If you’ve driven through a big city, you’ve inevitably seen the homeless man on the side of the road having an extremely animated conversation with someone else. Only, you cannot see the someone else. He can. You cannot. You cannot see the someone else because the someone else does not exist. Sure, the man on the side of the road perceives the other person and all of their hilarious antics. But the rest of the world knows the other person is not real.

His perception is his perception. His perception is not reality. And there’s no such thing as “his reality.”

We don’t each have our own reality. We have our own stories. We have our own experiences. We have our personal lessons we’ve learned along the way. Reality, however, does not belong to us.

Imagining we each have our own reality or our own truth simply provides an excuse for not seeking actual facts, truths, and solutions. It lets us off the hook and makes us lazy thinkers. We victimize ourselves.

Not only is this detrimental to the operations of our society, it threatens our very existence.

Satan uses this tactic to rob our hope and get God’s children out of the way by diluting our sense of truth. And though the phrase itself isn’t even quite old enough to run for president, this deceit dates back to the Garden.

The belief that our perception gifts us an alternate reality stunts our search for truth. When we stop searching, we stop using reality rooted in God’s truth and promises as the measuring stick for our perceptions.

When depression, suicidal ideations, feelings of worthlessness and being out of control, and fear set in, and we confuse these very real perceptions for reality, we lose hope and self-destruct.

The Bible instructs us to seek Him, that He is THE truth, and to lean NOT on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). One might even call that understanding, a perception.

Scripture warns us about buying into the lie in Proverbs 18:15, “The mind of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it.” In James 1:19 we find the first steps in breaking the toxic perception and reality cycle. “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.”

We cannot fall into the trap of believing WE have a personal truth to share. But something heavenly happens when we ask Christ to help us reflect upon our perceptions and identify our distortions. We see truth. We want more of it. We don’t want to go back to the old distorted view. We find ourselves behaving differently, feeling empowered, asking more questions, seeking others who operate in truth, and forming new habits.

Despite what the enemy wishes us to believe, our perceptions belong to us, but ALL truth and ALL reality belongs to God

14Margaret Christensen, Sharron Hayward and 12 others

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Caterpillars and Dial-up Internet

Our WiFi was ridiculously slow last Wednesday. Baker looked at me and asked, “Is this what dial-up was like?”

Waiting is not something we are accustomed to, today. We are a society frequently defined by convenience and instant gratification.

On a seemingly unrelated (but I’ll tie it together...I promise) note...

A common random theme that has surrounded Baker over that past week has been butterflies. Everywhere he looks, from his morning devotional, to his reading work from school, to his science work from school, to our family walks, to our pastor’s sermon this morning, the theme of butterflies/caterpillars keeps popping up.

In my experience “random themes” tend to be God’s way of tapping us on the shoulder.

Let’s be real. When you see a caterpillar do you stand in awe of its beauty?

If one crawls across your back porch, do you take a picture? Do you stare with wonder at the grace with which it inches across the ground? What if one falls from the porch covering and lands on the side of your drink? Do you grab your phone for a selfie?

Or do you notice its awkwardness? Do you get a little queasy thinking about it landing in your sweet tea? Do you wonder if it’s one of those poison ones like you saw on Facebook?

Do you see its future state, or do you fixate on its current condition?

I see the caterpillar exactly as it is right now. “Don’t touch that!” I holler to my curious kids. It’s not welcomed on my drink, on my skin, or in my house. The stranger it looks, the more I fear the unknown. I don’t like it. It’s gross. It creeps me out.

These last few weeks have felt like that.

Like a big, fat, juicy, creature fell out of the sky and straight into our laps. The really weird looking kind...the slimy and spiky kind with fur and horns.

Like a whole rolling swarm (that’s the actual term!) of gross weirdness just came out of nowhere and took over.

We look at our current condition and it’s absolutely surreal.

What we forget, though, is that the end is far more beautiful than the beginning.

We are NOT meant to know when this all will end...so we can go back to business as usual.

We are meant to use this time to to draw closer to our families and our God.

The caterpillar becomes the butterfly that my son and daughter chase through the pasture as they giggle with delight and pray that one will land right on their heads. I grab my phone to take a picture. I post it on Instagram for the world to see.

It takes time.

It can’t be rushed or forced.

The metamorphosis is a delicate process.

And when we attempt to speed things along, we destroy the beauty that is intended to emerge.

The trash heap that seems to have befallen us all, WILL produce beauty...in His time.

That’s hard for us. We want God to operate with WiFi service when it feels like He’s operating through dial-up...or worse...a carrier pigeon.

His thoughts are not our thoughts. His perspective is not our perspective.

The end-beauty will not come through impatience and wondering when this will all end. The questions where we allow our mind to fixate, influence the peace in our hearts.

The beauty will come with our willingness to believe that what comes next is unimaginable beauty.

It comes with our willingness to ask what we can do with this time to glorify Him.

It will come with us asking what we can do to serve those around us.

It is time to wrap ourselves in the cocoon of His promise, pour out our love, and trust that we will emerge a new creation.

25Donna Rial-Baker, Sharron Hayward and 23 others

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