Perception vs. Reality

When we lived in the mountains of Western North Carolina, we often woke to foggy mornings like this one. When I would look out the front windows, or when I stood on the front porch, on mornings like this, visibility was very limited. All I could see was shades of black and white and gray.  

Even though I knew there was a world out there, I couldn’t see it. 

 

Reality was this beautiful view on the other side of the fog. But I couldn’t see it. My perception was not my reality. It looked like I was cut off from the rest of the world. And if one of those foggy days happened to be a day when the internet was down, then I really did feel isolated. Cut off from the world. Because my communication channel was cut off. Most of the time, once the reset button on the router was pushed, communication was restored and all was well.

I recently read the story of Joseph Scriven. I was not familiar with Scriven's story, but I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. Joseph Scriven was an Irish poet whose fiancée drowned the night before they were to be married. Grieving deeply, he decided to move to Canada and begin a new life there. Out of this experience and several others, he penned these words:

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer.

 

What's the common thread here? What ties these somewhat disparate things together?

 

Communication. And perception. What it feels like isn't always reality. Feelings aren't always reliable.

 

Some days, like those really cloudy days in the mountains, or on days when I’m spending most of my time home alone, it feels like I'm cut off from the world. But I'm not.

Joseph Scriven felt deep despair. Yet in spite of that he learned deep truths about God and about prayer.  Truths which he shared with us by writing these words we have come to know as the hymn What a Friend We Have in Jesus.

 

The reality is that, no matter the circumstances and no matter how I may feel, I can always communicate with my heavenly Father. On the clear days. On the foggy days. When the internet works. When it doesn't.  In the happy times. In the sad times. And in all the in between times. In all circumstances. About everything. About anything.  

 

The picture of fog reminds me of that this morning. It gave the illusion that I was completely cut off from the world, isolated and alone.  

 

But it's only an illusion. Perception isn't reality.

 

The reality is that I am never alone. And the reality is that I can communicate, through prayer, with the One who knows me best and loves me most. What a privilege!

 

"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."  (James 4:8 ESV)