Sometimes You Just Need To Stand On Your Head
Have you ever noticed how different things look when you change your perspective? After a particularly exhausting work day, I was laying on the sofa on my side watching a recorded version of “Wheel Of Fortune” TV program. I had great difficulty solving any of the riddles which I normally solve far in advance of the contestants. I actually found myself sitting up to view the puzzle board. Then I easily solved the puzzle when I could view it from my usual perspective.
Sometimes you turn something (horizontal – parallel to the floor) and it doesn't look quite right when you remove it from the lathe and stand it upright? You were viewing it from a different perspective. Sometimes you either need to stand on your head or remove the work piece from the lathe and examine it from the proper perspective. I regularly turn items mounted in a four jaw chuck. I can leave the item in the chuck and unscrew the whole project from the lathe spindle to view it vertically, with the proper perspective. This little secret can really help to refine the finished shape.
Several years ago we were visiting a church while we were traveling cross country. We picked a seat at random and settled in. Moments later a sweet little old lady stopped in the aisle and glared daggers at us. When I asked if there was a problem, she said “You are in my seat!” If you never change your perspective, you might be missing something. My Pastor recently surprised our church by moving all of the chairs into a different configuration by adding rows in one place and taking rows out in others. He even changed the number of chairs in each row. It didn’t really work, but it did illustrate the point.
I would encourage you to change things up in your world if only a little bit. Sit on the other side of the church next Sunday. Rough down a spindle with a skew. Turn something entirely left handed (or right handed of you are a leftie). Lie on the floor and watch your favorite game show on TV. Sit with the grandkids at the little peoples table in a little peoples chair for an entire meal. Let them cut their own food.
Unless you live in the middle of a major metropolitan area, go to your local private airport and pay for a 30 minute plane ride in a small single engine plane or helicopter and fly over your community, including your own house. You will get a whole different perspective and discover things you had no idea where there. On the next road trip, actually stop at some of the scenic overlooks along the highway and take some pictures. Go to the top of a skyscraper and look out from the observation tower offered in many buildings in our major cities. We were fortunate enough to experience that from the110th floor of the World Trade Centers in New York City before 9–11–01.
A fresh perspective can reinvigorate your world and help your understanding about things in your world you might have missed, because wherever you go, there you are.
Here is my inspiration for this week’s message:
2 Kings 6:16–17 MSG
16 He said, "Don't worry about it – there are more on our side than on their side." 17 Then Elisha prayed, "O God, open his eyes and let him see." The eyes of the young man were opened and he saw. A wonder! The whole mountainside full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha!
Matt 13:16 NIV2
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
