You may be familiar with the following axiom:
Your Map is Not the Territory
These few words let us know that our frame of reference is unique to us. We are encouraged to consider that others have a much different perspective based on their own situations, experiences, and cultures. We are reminded that the bubble in which we find ourselves (or place ourselves) reflects our individual experience which is not universally shared.
But we forget.
Instead, we surround ourselves with like-minded people. Our friendships, social-media cliques, news outlets, and even our churches become comfortable and secure with those who reinforce our ideas - just the way we like it.
We delight in our attitude of rightness. We have created Life-in-Silo, convinced that what we constantly hear, absorb, and affirm is the only truth. We extol our map as the only true and complete representation of the world. Any other opinion is worthy of nothing less than complete dismissal.
“Those people” are disparaged vocally in loud and contemptuous terms when finding it difficult to hear, absorb and believe the way we do – the right way, of course.
We build the walls that divide us – we’re good with that.
We exclude and then circle-the-wagons around our views – we’re proud of that.
We denigrate and judge – we get life from that.
* * *
I was introduced to a video that might help us to tolerate, accept and even embrace competing world-views.
The first link below was found as I searched for a comparison. This time-lapse video shows the Milky Way moving across a California sky with the camera fixed on the horizon of the earth. Watch closely as the galaxy moves from left to right.
The second link is the video that triggered this post. In this view, the camera is fixed on the Milky Way while leaving the horizon to adjust.
If asked for a vote to determine which video exemplifies the one,
true map of the territory, which of the two videos would you choose?
Then, based on the discovery of the two videos;
If asked for a vote to determine who would have the one
true map of the territory (our world), would you choose;
- A white, US middle-class factory worker
- An Indigenous First Nation Canadian ceremonial dancer
- A Black Harvard Law graduate
- A Pakistani software support technician
- A gay-pride activist
- A politically liberal voter
- A politically conservative preacher
- An inner-city basketball player
- A 1-percenter
- A Mexican immigrant mechanic
- An inner-city police captain
- A suburban housewife
- A college student grocery clerk
- A member of the British Royal Family
- A 70-year-old Cuban living in Miami for the past 50 years
- A NE Maine fisherman
- A Japanese salesperson
- A Taiwanese taxi driver
- You
"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."
2 Corinthians 5:16-20
2 Corinthians 5:16-20
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