A Changing Perspective

I have noticed lately a subtle changing in my mind. It has been growing gradually over the last three months. Several days ago, it hit me like a wave crashing onto a surprised shore. I was watching the movie My Dog Skip. As many of you know, this is the heart-warming story of a boy, Willie, and the story of his youthful journey with his jack russell terrier, Skip. Willie and Skip grew up and had many adventures around the small Mississippi town in which they lived. They were always together, inseperable with a bond that time only strengthened. However, toward the end of the movie, Willie allowed his desire to be loved by his friends and many others in the town to rule his actions. In fact, during a baseball game in which he had played rather poorly, Willie struck Skip in his anger and embarassment. The dog frightened and demoralized retreated from the baseball field and wandered through the town. The dog eventually wound up trapped in the town's cemetary. Willie distraught and embrassed searched diligently for the dog in hopes of reuniting with him and renewing their bond of fellowship. It wasn't until late in the night that Willie finds Skip in the cemetary. Unfortunately, Skip had been attacked by some moonshiners and was in a perulious condition. The boy rushes Skip to the vet who does all he can to save Skip. Thankfully, Skip makes it through the surgery and survives. It is a gut-wrenching story with a happy ending.

You may be asking yourself, "what does this movie about a dog have to do with a changing perspective?" Well, I'll tell you. It was this movie that awakened me to this new perspective. In the past, I had always watched that movie and connected my feelings to the feelings of the boy, Willie. Well, when I watched it the other day, I related to another character in the story, and no, it wasn't the dog. I suddenly found myself wondering how the father felt. I began to ponder how I would help the little boy cope with this tragic situation. I wanted to know how I would help Jackson, my son, handle this sort of thing. It was then I realized that I would never see things the same way. I will forever be a father, think like a father, act like a father. I will always see things differently, always think differently, and most important worship differently. God as Father has taken on a new meaning to me. I have a better understanding of the actual sacrifice of Father giving the Son. I am starting to comprehend what it means to have real patience (especially at four in the morning). I see what it means to offer forgiveness and how to really ask for it. Needless to say, rearing a child is probably the most sanctifying process I have undergone. Thank God for him.

As I have been thinking on this new perspective, a saying from Paul popped into my head. It goes like this: When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (I Corinthians 13:11-12)

While I realize that these verses have nothing to do with child-rearing, they have everything to do with a changing perspective. They are about the ultimate change in perspective. However, this part of my life is only one part of this ultimate change. Through our experiences, we learn more and more how to see the face of God. Through Jackson and our experiences together, I gain more and more understanding of the Ultimate Knowledge of this universe.