Both Sides Now

Ever been in that place?  Just like Joni Mitchell describes in her song, sometimes, when we look at things from different angles and perspectives, we still can't figure it out.  We do our best to be objective, we move and look again, trying desperately to see what we haven't seen before, yet nothing seems to change.

I've been there before.  It's that place where you feel incapable of seeing anything different and yet somehow, you feel as though you've missed something.  You can't quite put your finger on it, but something just doesn't feel right.  It might come as you are leaving your house and you realize what's incomplete as soon as you get on the highway in your car.  Maybe you're at the airport and realize what it was that you forgot.  It could be something more significant, realizing something that you missed after you've already sent a letter or turned in a big project.

I've learned to wait on things much more as I have grown older and wiser.  Yet, I still have my fair share of missing things that I have done my best to see from both sides.  I've grown more patient, yet I still feel that urging to move past because I am in such a hurry.

As much as we might try to be objective about things and the way that we view them, we will most likely miss something.  We do our best to be humble and rightly acknowledge our limitations in hopes that should be find out what we've missed, we won't have to eat our words, or something worse.  We realize our limitations and know that we still have so much to learn and can gain something more from hearing the perspective of someone else.

I'm reminded of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."  We can only see a glimpse, a portion, a part right now, but one day, we will see it all.  Our eyes will see face to face, clearly, we will understood as we have never understood before.

I imagine that when that day finally comes, I may try to monopolize God's time.  So many unanswered questions.  So many sleepless nights.  So many tears cried.  So many prayers offered.  Seems like it might just be a series of "a-ha" moments, finally "getting it."

Until that day finally arrives, I'll rest in the fact that I can only see a glimpse.  I'll do my best to stay humble and hope to find that there is something to be gained from every new perspective that I encounter.  It's not always easy to look at things differently, from both sides, or multiple sides for that matter, but the end result can certainly lead to humility, growth, and eventually, wisdom.