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Vision

 “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)

         

          Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. (Numbers 22:31)

 

          And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (II Kings 6:17)

 

          This is one of the things that makes those whose minds are dominated by science gnash their teeth. If we can’t see, hear, smell, feel, taste, or control it (they claim) it doesn’t exist. That means spirits can’t exist. Today, let’s look at the visual issue.

          Without aid, humans can see something about 0.1 millimeter across. They have roughly a 100 degree visual range, and can detect light in the 380 to 700 nanometer range. Using an electron microscope, humans can see atoms, but not electrons, neutrons, or positrons, or the quarks, leptons and whatever else make up the sub-atomic particles. We also see things in three dimensions clearly: length, width, and depth, but we are, so to speak, one-dimensional when it comes to the fourth dimension: Time. We can only see the point we are experiencing, and that’s on about a 13 millisecond delay. We’re aware that the past, future, and acceleration (length and width) exist, but we don’t see them.

          Animals see very differently in any of a number of ways. The picture below is an approximation of the way a bee sees a dandelion as opposed to our view of it.

 


And, here’s a link to a website that explores animal vision: 90 Animals Ranked by Eyesight and How They Compare to Humans | LASIK by OCLI Vision

          If animals can see wavelengths of light we cannot, that at least suggests that what we see may not be all that may be seen. C. S. Lewis pointed out that “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” We might see the sun when it rises, but generally speaking, we don’t think we are seeing light so much as we are seeing things when the reality is that we see the light that bounces off the thing we think we’re seeing.

       All of this is just one sensory area.  Others reveal humans to be even more sadly lacking in our capacity. Then there are the problems of seeing things that aren’t there (mirages and holograms), seeing things that aren’t real (AI images), and not seeing things that are there (someone I know standing 3 feet away – I may register that there’s a person there, but not recognize that it is someone I’ve known for decades. It’s hugely embarrassing, but we don’t always see what we see. That’s the whole thing about sleight of hand.)

          Getting back to God being spirit. Here’s my question. What would constitute evidence for a non-physical (spiritual) being? I’ll just leave that one with you and move on to a question that’s more important. If there is a spiritual reality – and I believe there is – what should we do with that information?

          Jesus warns us and gives us two instructions. We must worship, but we must worship in spirit and in truth. What a good way to start our prayers… Lord, teach me to worship in spirit and in truth.

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