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Different Perspectives


          Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.  Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.  Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.  Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.  Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.  They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.  Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.  They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.  The wicked will see and be vexed, they will gnash their teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing. (Psalm 112:1-10)

          There was a time when I would have understood this passage to say that only the children of the upright will be mighty in the land; and only the generation of the upright would be blessed, that wealth and riches would only be in their houses… that only the righteous would never be shaken. I would have believed that the righteous would not be shaken because nothing would happen that would shake them. They would not have no fear, but nothing to fear, and that their triumph over their foes would be found in beating their foes to a bloody pulp (at least figuratively.)
          One of the cool things about working on Earth Fire for the past three years is that I’ve gotten to spend time with a character named Estaen, and one of the things that he’s taught me is that the way I see things isn’t the way those in heaven see things. Oh, I know some people will say that they could have told me that, but the way those in heaven see things may well not be the way they see things either. What we see as good and triumph, God may see as selfishness and defeat. What we call darkness and light might truly be all twilight. I’m not saying that those facing hard time haven’t reached the level that entitles them to sympathy, and I don’t think that’s heaven’s perspective either. Sympathy don’t have a threshold requirement. That doesn’t mean its perceived in the same way.
          One of Estaen’s suggestions is that we stop seeing the part as the whole.

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