I see the world with two eyes. When my right eye closes, my perspective shifts. It opens, and my original perspective returns. My left eye closes, my perspective shifts again, and I see the world in a third way.
One step to the left or to the right and my world is turning. A step forward or backward, and the world is rushing at me or running from me.
With the closing of a single eyelid or the new placement of my left or right foot, and the way I view the world changes.
And yet we humans have the audacity to believe however we currently view the world is the only way to correctly see the world. And we believe viewers of the world with the wrong eye closed or both eyes open when one should be closed or a viewer standing over there when he should be standing here or a viewer walking that way when she should be walking this way isn’t only incorrect, but stupid and ignorant and morally wrong and evil and the enemy and going to hell and deserving of hell and a republican or a democrat and is part of the reason why the world isn’t what it used to be or why the world isn’t what it could be.
So many of us did almost nothing to find our current perspective. We were born a few feet from where we currently stand. Our parents see the world that way and we took a few steps to the left, right, forward, or backward, and now we see the world this way. We’re still looking at the same thing, but we have a fresh new angle our parents could never understand.
Some of us hate our parents so much we refuse to ever see the world they view. We’re seeing things they’ve never seen before. But our hatred limits us, and when we try to see a zoomed out perspective of our current view, we feel resistance when trying to take a step back because we’re only standing heel to heel with our fathers. We aren’t progressive. We haven’t progressed anywhere; we’ve only been spun around by hate.
We have built such great kingdoms around our perspectives. Religions, governments, news medias, philosophies, cliques and clubs, countries and neighborhoods, churches and schools. And one thing they all have in common is they believe “this one” is correct.
Before criticizing the view of a neighboring kingdom, ask yourself why you are in your current kingdom. And be honest. The more honest you are, the more you’ll realize how little it has to do with your own thoughts, actions, and beliefs. So much of your perspective is pure happenstance. It’s first based on when and where you were born. It’s then based on to whom you were born. And that might be it.
You have no reason for pride – you didn’t do anything. You have no reason for a kingdom – you have no pride. With our pride and the walls of our kingdoms down, perhaps we can have a chance to communicate with our neighbors. Perhaps we can attempt to see the world the way our neighbors see it. Perhaps we can finally follow that command from the ancient world and begin loving our neighbor.