Quotes About Perspective

I sometimes subscribe to the belief that all historical events occur simultaneously, like a dream in the mind of God. Perhaps it is only man who views time sequentially and tries to impose a solar calendar upon it. What if other people, both dead and unborn, are living out their lives in the same space we occupy, without our knowledge or consent?

Just tell me this: when did a shipload of criminals, desperadoes, and fugitives become such a bunch of do-gooders?" Inara had the answer. "When their captain showed them how.

Contact means the exchange of specific knowledge, ideas, or at least of findings, definite facts. But what if no exchange is possible? If an elephant is not a giant microbe, the ocean is not a giant brain.

Here's where PTSD is particularly nasty. It isn't really a "disorder" as modern medical experts understand it. It's a shift in perspective. Being forced into Condition Black and being trained to live in Condition Yellow are both highly traumatizing. Both shift your worldview, often permanently. Both become hard-coded into personality, changing the individual in ways they never expected. Sometimes, amazingly enough, for the better.

When minority or outcast characters exist in a story solely to teach lessons to members of the majority, it's just one more way of seeing everything from the majority point of view.

Every man who is high up loves to think that he has done it all himself; and his wife smiles, and lets it go at that. It's our only joke. Every woman knows that.

You see, dear, it is not true that woman was made from man's rib; she was really made from his funny bone.

Yes, I have actually mined coal, and distilled liquor, as well as seen a girl in a pink dress, and seen her take it off. I am 54 years old, weigh 220 pounds, and look like the chief dispatcher of a long-distance driving concern. I am a registered Democrat. I drink.

Interestingly, one of the most important times to listen well is when you disagree with the message, especially as it relates to how we affect others.

This is God's world, so everything, even if it intends to efface God, bears witness to God – understood and interpreted through biblical eyeglasses.

When we pray, we are speaking to the One Whose eternal purpose and designs are unfolding as our present realities. In order to find hope in them, we must seek HIM and HIS perspective. This requires a keen understanding of the redemptive nature of our existence, which points to the glorious gospel of Christ.

To complain is to say in effect; "God, You blew it! You had a chance to meet my expectations, but You couldn't handle it! Nice try, God, close—but not close enough." So complaining definitely injures you and the Lord.

So often, it's others around us who can see where God wants to grow us even before we see it ourselves.

Gratitude is the attitude that sets the altitude for living!

The marquee scrolling across our minds trying to reinterpret life reads: "God-Against-Us." This becomes the dominant lens through which our flesh interprets life. We no longer give our loving Father the benefit of the doubt. Instead, we view every event as conclusive proof that God is against us.

In counseling, we don't simply help people to change one thought; we help people to understand the pattern of their thinking – their mindsets.

The counselee should be aware that you are not God. Better yet, she should be aware that you are aware that you are not God.

as my great-uncle says, much of the

Expirience is the oracle of truth

Religion can provide a check to my tendency to think that I am the center of the universe, that I know better than anyone about God, and that God speaks most clearly through me.

What might our lives feel like if we didn't march through them with a scorecard, keeping a tally of our failures and successes? How would it be to stop pretending omniscience? Can you imagine being able to trust that the outcome of your efforts will be right, whatever the outcome? Even when it looks as though every effort is marked with failure?

When things go awry, if they are mostly an inconvenience to you or a threat to your ego, instead of getting furious, can you laugh? Sometimes the even the best-laid plans, the most carefully planned events can turn out quite differently than planned.

Unplanned occurrences are reminders to check your tendency to think that you're the one in control. In reality, it's someone else.... It is a vivid reminder that in ministry, no matter how hard you work, ultimately it's God's work, not yours. All this puts our work in perspective.

True prayer wants others to flourish. If any still have a hard time praying for church leaders, they might use a prayer that I find helpful when I am struggling with another person. My prayer is to see that person as God sees him or her.