Perspective

When I started this blog I said that I wasn't going to write columns about Georgia football.  I know maybe claiming a technicality but in the end this column isn't about Georgia football, but I'm going to use it as a starting point.

Unless one has been living in a cave in Siberia the last week one is aware the Georgia football team lost to LSU 37-10 in the SEC Championship game last Saturday evening.  It was a rough night for the Dawgs to be sure.  However, to hear some Georgia fans the last few days one would think that the University of Georgia football program is in total shambles.

Some folks are screaming for people to be fired.  Others are acting like the season was a total failure. It is, to say the least, a complete over reaction.  

What these over reactors are missing is perspective.  After all, Saturday's loss was in a championship game.  There were twelve other teams in our conference that would have loved to have had the opportunity Georgia had Saturday night.  Georgia has won eleven football games this year beating our biggest rivals--Florida, Auburn, Tennessee and Georgia Tech, along with Notre Dame.  Georgia is going to play in a major bowl game. All in all we Georgia fans have enjoyed a pretty good football season, indeed a season to celebrate, when one puts it in perspective.

This simply shows the importance of perspective in life.  I often find that I, along with many folks, lose  perspective about things in life.  We become concerned over issues in the life that with a little perspective should actually be reasons to give thanks.

Once I sat in a group that was sharing prayer requests.  I heard a parent request prayer for their child and spouse who were closing on a home later that week.  While I certainly understand the parent's concern I wondered to myself if that parent had realized the situation was one for thanksgiving and not concern.

After all the parents child was married and taking a mature step into adulthood.  In this case the parent's child had a college degree, a good job and the financial capabilities of home ownership.  There were so many reasons for thanks but it just seemed to be overlooked.

In our culture many of the tings we consider problems someone else would be glad to have.  On a recent evening I was struggling with a basic home repair.  I complained and complained.  Then I thought of a homeless man I'd seen that day.  I am sure he would have welcomed the opportunity to have struggled with the same repair that frustrated me.  The fact is many of the things we perceive to be problems actually are the result of our affluence.    

So it is that we are called to have perspective.  In one of my favorite passages of scripture St. Paul writes, "Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8 NRSV)  Incidentally, Paul wrote those words from the perspective of a jail cell.  

Sure there are real issues we all face in life.  However, sometimes a heaping helping of perspective changes our perceptions.

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