Silhouettes

When were at Manitoulin Island, I would sometimes find a bird but, because I was looking into the sun, it was difficult to see identifying details. Any photo taken would turn out as a silhouette due to the backlighting. There were plenty of Ravens, and my goal this year was to get a better picture of this all-black bird, but the lighting was never ideal. 

In the gospel of Mark, chapter 8, there is a story about Jesus healing a blind man in the village of Bethsaida. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus warned his disciples about "the yeast of the Pharisees", a concept they did not understand at all. He said in verse 18*, 

"You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?"

Later, when they arrived at Bethsaida some people begged Jesus to heal a blind man. He put spit in the man's eyes in the first part of a two part healing. The blind man initially said, 

“I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”

Jesus touched his eyes again and,

 

"His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly".

Bede the Vernerable was a Benedictine monk who lived in from 672-735 AD in what is now England. In his commentary on the Gospel of Mark he wrote, 

"By this miracle, Christ teaches us how great is the spiritual blindness of man, which only by degrees, and by successive stages, can come to the light of Divine knowledge".

We interpret the world around us based on our personal values, biases, culture, and experience. We may only see shadows of the whole picture and miss important details. It is easy to judge the actions of others based on our own sight, which may be blurred or even blinded to the full truth of the situation. 

In the famous love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, verse 12* says,

"Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, 

but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. 

All that I know now is partial and incomplete, 

but then I will know everything completely, 

just as God now knows me completely."

For three days, I knew an Indigo Bunting was in a particular tree. I could see its shape on the branches and heard its call. But sunlight is needed to turn the colour of its iridescent feathers, which have no blue pigment, from black to brilliant indigo blue. The sun shone brightly the day we left and I found the bird, which I had only seen in silhouette, displaying its beautiful colour. 

I am cautious around people who feel they understand things with great certainty, those people who freely share their opinions, who mock others who not agree with them, and are often very poor observers and listeners. I can be that person at times. I must remember that first impressions can be wrong, details are often unclear, and evolving situations can be confusing. We see best in hindsight. In the meantime, we must observe all sides of a situation, share our thoughts lovingly and wisely, and wait for the illuminating light.  

*scripture quotations from the New Living Translation

Bird photos from the top: Common Ravens, Turkey Vultures, Grey Catbird, Indigo Bunting (m)

Cup and Saucer, from Lake Manitou, Manitoulin Island