Eye of the Beholder

Eye of the Beholder

There are articles/lists online wherein the author has chosen famous places around the world which are considered by some to be "disappointments" when they're visited.  My husband showed me a couple of those sites this morning and I was struck by how differently people view things.  It reminds me of that old saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, a phrase coined back in 1878 by author Margaret Wolfe Hungerford.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris (pictured above) is one of the places listed as "disappointing."  I'll never forget the moment I first laid eyes on this magnificent tower.  My eyes filled with tears and I wept at its beauty and at the fact that I was able to stand in its shadow and see it with my own eyes.  It was an incredibly special moment.  There wasn't a shred of disappointment.  The trip to the top with its vast, sweeping view was also wonderful and well-worth it. 

The list also included the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy as "disappointing" (pictured below).  How interesting, I thought, as I was reminded of two comments told to me by two different people some years ago.  When my sister Ava saw the Tower, she said she was so touched and overcome by emotion that tears filled her eyes.  That same year, a friend told me of her visit to the Tower and described it as a "ho-hum experience - not impressed."  These two women saw the exact same thing with the exact opposite responses.  By the way, I wasn't disappointed when I visited either!

While perception of beauty is somewhat subjective, perception of Truth should not be.  When I think of seeing a thing through the "eye of the beholder," I'm reminded of the many people who can look at the same statement written in God's Holy Word, the Bible, and they see it so differently.  I look at the stories in the book of Genesis as facts set forth by God with lessons to learn and truth to be believed, while others look at those same stories and consider them to be fables and fairy tales.  They also see salvation, heaven and hell as myths.

We can disagree on the value of visiting certain famous places around the world and it doesn't matter.  No harm done.  But, when you disagree on the Truth of God's Word, it does matter -- a lot!  There is great harm in not believing what God says about His Son and the salvation of the soul.  

In the gospel of John, Jesus says, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" 8:32.  I have never been disappointed with God, nor with His Word.  There's a song about "beholding all his glory and His amazing grace."  I'm so thankful for each of us whose eyes are beholding His glory and amazing grace.  He is not a disappointment.