We're not victims.
Yes, we are barraged with images everyday. Some of them come out of nowhere. Many of them are surprising.
But we're not victims.
What we see and, for that matter, what we hear is mostly a matter of choice. Not always, mind you, but we absolutely have a lot of choice in the matter. Let me explain with a story from what feels like the distant past.
When my wife and I were doing ministry in Michigan, we were doing so in a very rural area. This translated to lots of farms nearby. Farms meant lots of farm boys. And some of those farm boys were big. So once when my wife was driving by one of these farms, she passed a house in which lived a farm boy. A big farm boy.
She wasn't stalking, but with windows wide open she caught a glimpse of this farm boy walking around his house in his whitey tighteys.
She kept driving. But now the image was burned into her retinas.
The next time my wife and this (purposely left unnamed) farm boy were in church, she mentioned to him that he might want to close his drapes. She explained what she saw and may have mentioned that accidents could occur if he kept walking around like that. He replied, "If people want to look in my windows, they can see me as I am."
Lesson learned. Jen kept her eyes forward when driving past their farm. She knew what the possibilities were when she drove by. So do when we turn on a certain radio station or scroll through particular websites. You can be surprised once. After that, you're no longer a victim.
Yes, we are barraged with images everyday. Some of them come out of nowhere. Many of them are surprising.
But we're not victims.
What we see and, for that matter, what we hear is mostly a matter of choice. Not always, mind you, but we absolutely have a lot of choice in the matter. Let me explain with a story from what feels like the distant past.
When my wife and I were doing ministry in Michigan, we were doing so in a very rural area. This translated to lots of farms nearby. Farms meant lots of farm boys. And some of those farm boys were big. So once when my wife was driving by one of these farms, she passed a house in which lived a farm boy. A big farm boy.
She wasn't stalking, but with windows wide open she caught a glimpse of this farm boy walking around his house in his whitey tighteys.
She kept driving. But now the image was burned into her retinas.
The next time my wife and this (purposely left unnamed) farm boy were in church, she mentioned to him that he might want to close his drapes. She explained what she saw and may have mentioned that accidents could occur if he kept walking around like that. He replied, "If people want to look in my windows, they can see me as I am."
Lesson learned. Jen kept her eyes forward when driving past their farm. She knew what the possibilities were when she drove by. So do when we turn on a certain radio station or scroll through particular websites. You can be surprised once. After that, you're no longer a victim.
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