Reality requires an interpretation.
Reality requires an interpretation.
"I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord."
I hardly read the news anymore, whether conservative or liberal or whatever; it’s all poisonous. I remember years ago, as people began to notice how biased news sources were, they would comment that they wanted “unbiased” news. News delivered without a perspective attached, without an agenda stapled on. Now, it seems hilarious to me that such a thing is still sought after, but back then, I agreed. I agreed because of the strong left wing bias in most of the major news sources. Even in right wing news sources, a wave of left wing censorship could be found every now and then. I understand that wish to be a fool’s errand now.
It is not possible to deliver information without a perspective.
When Jesus preaches on what is soon to come for him, he says:
27 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.”
Even when God speaks to His Son such that His voice could be heard clearly, some say, “it thundered,” while others heard the voice of an angel. Those situated to witness the miracle of God’s voice could not hear it when it was released right in their midst.
Regardless of what events occur before our eyes, what we witness is determined by our perspective. There is never NOT a bias when information is transferred from one being to another. Perhaps, it rains. One may say, “it rained.” Another may say, “it poured,” and still another may say, “it drizzled.” Have you ever been in a temperate room with another only to find out that they are cold or hot in comparison? Is the room’s temperature just right or somewhat cold or a little hot? Will we ever know?
Science was supposed to fix this defect of human will and consciousness. It attempts to rely on measurements between controls and independent variables to find a causative link between causes and effects. The problem with science however is that “human beings do science.” Subsequently, The results of an experiment are still filtered through the perceptions of a person, either the ones writing the paper, reviewing the paper, or reading the paper.
Of course, you may now say that Truth is absolute, and you are correct. But Truth must always pass through the filter of perception of the one witnesses the Truth, and that is the battle of God’s Kingdom people. We wrestle against our own flesh to see beyond our own perceptions, to see the will of God. We try. 500 years ago, in the Age of Exploration in Europe, this meant expanding the Kingdom of God to a lost continent across the sea. Today, some Christians would say that methodology was deeply flawed. I wonder what the explorers of 500 years ago would say about our methodologies for unveiling the glory of God? What are their thoughts on church-growthism? on “seeker-friendly” churches?
So, you might say, well there are just undeniable truths like the fact that 1 + 0 = 1, and you would be almost correct…except, of the cultures that invented numerical systems, some did not invent a zero (0), for example. In the western number system that now dominates the globe, you would profess that zero exists as a number, and you would profess that there is such a thing as negative numbers. Has it occurred to you that even numbers are philosophical? We use base10 for our number system, ancient peoples have used various bases, including the Sumerians who counted in base60*. All mathematical systems are built on theories, and all theories are an individual’s best guess at how things work in reality. We have a zero and count in base10 because that is what we’re accustomed to and that is what we know to do. We have negative numbers because someone invented them to describe states that can never be manifested in the real world.
Have you ever given someone $ -50 dollars?
We use negatives in banking to denote a state where you owe someone else money, but the money you owe is positive but belongs to another account. Negative numbers are a shortcut to explain a state of owing money. They are not real in and of themselves. Zero is a way to express the state of nothing, but since you count with numbers, a lot of ancient cultures* never invented a number for zero. After all, how often do you count nothing? You either have something of something, but you never have something of nothing. Yet, we express the state of having something of nothing as zero (0). Imagine a world where you are asked what 1 - 1 = ? and the correct answer is “(blank),” so you just leave that question blank on your test. Then, your teacher later marks it as correct.
Try doing that in school today. Your teacher would say that you didn’t answer the question or that you didn’t show your work. We expect a (0) because we have a (0) to expect.
Perspective controls the language that we use to describe events. People frequently do not perceive events the same as others that are experiencing the same event. Language itself is variable, from numbers to words to sentences. The way that one person would describe the world is alien to how another person would describe the world. Even when God is involved, He will not force you to perceive an event of His making the way that He sees it.
The problem isn’t that you are biased (as we all are). The problem is that we are all biased and cannot choose NOT to be biased. We CANNOT choose NOT to perceive, and as soon as we perceive, we are bound to infect our perception with a perspective. In fact, there is no world where humans exist where perception can be separated from perspective.
And that’s when I began to understand, reality must be interpreted.
Every person is an interpretation engine, and we cannot help but express our interpretations. All of human perspective and perception is an interpretation of reality. It is NOT reality itself, but it is our best guesses of how reality works. We desire to use language, numbers, and our best tools and algorithms to model how reality works so that we can predict what will happen, so that we can understand what IS happening. Science is the systematizing of best guesses into theoretical models using a lengthy and flawed process. Revelation from God is the perfection of the process…if only the revelation did not need to be expressed through human lips once it was received.
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, [a]acceptable to God, which is your [b]spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this [c]world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may [d]prove what the will of God is, that which is good and [e]acceptable and perfect.
You are God’s problem. He is working hard to fix you and your interpretation of reality. Your perceptions of everything are all wrong, and you never understand as much as you think you do. You are always one step behind the truth, and the only one that can help is God. His goal is simple: he needs to kill you.
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Of course, He needs to kill you in a way where you stay alive to deliver His pure Revelation to the people. Thus, He sent His Son to die in your place so that He can kill your will and replace it with His will without you having to physically die. If you have His will, His thoughts, His ways, maybe you could deliver His Revelation without it being poisoned by your own interpretation. He seeks to wash you clean.
And He will have His way.
17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.