Outdoor Truths

As I have written many times before, when one is in a tree stand, he notices the most intricate things. For hours on end a deer hunter is looking at the same view. He can only see so far in each direction. It never changes. So, within his parameters he must learn to look beyond what he would normally see and fi nd intrigue in minutia. These exercises remind me of days in a classroom when we were given a narrow subject and had to write a paper on it. The only way I could ever achieve the word count was if I used every fl owery adverb and adjective I knew. There is just so much you can say about a stapler or a candle. The same thing goes for when one is in a tree stand. After a while you quit looking at the tree and start counting the leaves. What I have noticed however, is how everything changes as the sun changes locations. When it fi rst rises it casts long shadows and illuminates only the east facing boundary. As it goes higher the shadows get shorter and its light encompasses nearly everything. As it sets, another part of nature is revealed in a different and clearer way, and the long shadows return facing the opposite direction. The placement of the sun really does bring out different aspects of the same view. I've noticed that people are this way too. We are so different, and we look at things differently as well. Many of our differences cannot be explained by saying one is right and the other is wrong but instead by simply understanding that each of us sees things from a different perspective. I dare say the world each of us lives in would be a lot friendlier if we recognized this. A perfect example is in our government. When someone writes, "I don't know how someone can be a Christian and be a republican," and someone else writes, "I don't know how someone can be a Christian and be a democrat;" a light should go off that both are simply seeing things from a different point of view. This doesn't mean there are not some things that are right or wrong, but it does mean that somethings are based on how God built us and how our environment infl uenced our perspective. The Bible is not silent on this as well. Paul informed the Roman Christians about this when he wrote; "Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don't argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. For instance, one person believes it's all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don't. And those who don't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. Who are you to condemn someone else's servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord's help, they will stand and receive his approval." (Rom 14:1-4 NLT) There really are no two people who see everything the same. We all get our views from a host of infl uences. They make each of us unique. But we can only be unique if we have others around us to reveal the differences. In other words, we need others to make us special. All of us do. And that means that while we may disagree on some things, what brings us together is more important than what has the potential to separate us.

~ www.outdoortruths.org