I don’t believe it!
Unbelievable!
Man, that is so beyond belief!
That’s how we communicate about something that’s foreign to our own personal experience. It’s a declaration of where the boundaries of our psyche are located. When we see, hear or experience something for which we personally have no experience with, if it’s too bizarre, routinely dismiss it if possible or ridicule its testimony hoping to discredit the whole thing. Ok, well, that’s how I’ve handled things that are just too strange for me.
There was a time when people believed the world was flat; the sun moved around the earth. Relatively speaking, they were right. Our perspective is so powerful. It’s also very personal which makes it so believable. Perspective does not ask for an opinion, because it doesn’t need one. It is its own authority based on how it renders what it sees.
What drives it? Where does it get its fuel?
Perspective is fueled by paradigms. Those invisible mental models that have established themselves as truth is what drives perspective. Whether you see the glass half full or half empty depends on these guys. They drive your decisions in choosing what you eat and who will be your life partner. It’s amazing how perspective wields such power in a covert way. Perspective has an insatiable desire to be right. It determines what we believe.
If you live with that kind of ball and chain, I would call you a fanatic. A fanatic is someone entrenched in invincible ignorance. I guess the truth is that we are all fanatics to some extent, held in a peculiar space by our own mind.
Essentially, belief is what we see or understand mentally. A person cannot believe what he sees until he believes before he sees (faith), before he perceives the reality of what he looks at. God does not give a man the power to see until his character proves itself worthy of its purification. This is a basic, but misunderstood spiritual truth. I say spiritual in the sense that is who we are. To deny ourselves the dynamics of spirituality is to deny our humanity.
So how can we have our minds changed about things we are so sure of? Do we what them changed? And is it necessary? Can we really get beyond what we currently hold to tightly?
Is there more to life than what you currently understand?
Veritasity 
Great word Roy. I completely agree. Actually I don’t like the terms unbelieveable or incredible.
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Read your post 6 times and have a question, “What the hell are you talking about”? Perspective and paradigm drive my food choices? Really? “Perspective has an insatiable desire to be right?? How does that work? “God does not give a man the power to see until his character proves itself worthy of its purification”. That is a basic spiritual truth? I never heard of that spiritual truth. When do I or my character become worthy? I used to be a secular humanist and atheist (a perspective and paradigm). Now I am a Jesus follower a vastly different perspective and paradigm. Was the first a ball and chain or is the second a ball and chain. God said that we can “know and understand” Him. Jesus told Pilate that He came to “testify to the truth”. We can know and understand the truth. I believe Him. That is my perspective. And it is the right perspective. The world says there are many truths the world is wrong. Love you my friend.
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Thanks for your comment Paul. I appreciate you wanting dialog.
Our perceptions are fueled by the mental models that each person has. The way we look at ourselves, God, and life in general is controlled by these models.
I like the dialog in Genesis where the serpent is tempting Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. The serpent throws her a curve. He said God doesn’t want you to be like Him. He didn’t say that directly. He said, “You’re not going to die. God knows that when you eat from this tree, you will be like Him, knowing good and evil”. The conversation resulted in Eve questioning God’s character. The trust was broken.
The next thing she’s doing is looking at the tree and musing, “Well, it does look good. And I will gain wisdom by eating its fruit”. It’s a simple illustration of how our minds can change. It didn’t take long for their perspective to change also. They saw their naked condition and hid from Love when He approached calling their names, because they are now afraid as well as being naked. Evil has now metastasized in this infant culture.
I know you had other issues to discuss, but can we discuss this topic for now?
Love you too, brother.
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