Peripheral Vision - Tunnel Vision

Some time ago I shared thoughts about opening more of the windows of my soul in order to receive greater light about God (Opening the Window Blinds to Let in More Light).

Along the same lines, I will share a thought about the importance of peripheral vision in our growing understanding of God and of all of life. I read the following from an article about 2 Kansas State University research psychologists: "We found that your peripheral vision is important for taking in the gist of a scene and that you can remove the central portion of an image, where your visual acuity is best, and still do just fine at identifying the scene..." (Adam Larson)

It's not unusual for us humans to have tunnel vision as it relates to our particular worldview, including those of us who follow Jesus; in other words, we focus on only one paradigm or way of viewing Him. In order get the whole scene, it's important that we have and practice "peripheral vision" or the ability to see beyond a single point of focus. This requires venturing into the worlds of other people who see things differently and daring to ask questions about our own point of view. This takes courage since often our sense of security is based on thinking that what 'my tribe' believes is THE truth.

When you lose peripheral vision in the physical eye, not only do you miss out on the wider beauty of the scene but there's danger involved since you can't detect movement out of the corner of your eye. Walking and driving, among other things, are dangerous activities for someone without peripheral vision.

And so it is in God; we may think we're protecting ourselves and others by confining ourselves to our favored theologies and ideas, but we may be in more danger by not receiving wisdom and understanding of God from the wider community of faith and even from those who may not share our beliefs about God but who have learned things we can gain by. This doesn't mean we give up our focused vision (that which we see through the tunnel) nor that we adhere to everything others teach; it means we add to the picture all the colors and variety of the larger scene.

A couple of ways to start developing peripheral vision are: first, simply practice putting yourself in the shoes of whoever you tend to react in disagreement with. This takes effort and concentration but produces empathy and a larger understanding of humans even if you may not agree with the person. Another way is to begin to read the materials of others who look at God from different angles.

Here are a few names of many good and real followers of Jesus that I recommend for help in this matter of getting peripheral vision; most of them have blogs where you can find a lot of material:
Richard Beck Experimental Theology
Rachel Held Evans Rachel Held Evans Blog
Brian McLaren Brian's Blog
Peter Enns Rethinking Biblical Christianity
Derek Flood  The Rebel God
Kathy Escobar  Love.Mercy.Peace   

As I have ventured into other ways of seeing God with the help of people who are from other traditions and worldviews, I'm finding the landscape and scenery to be more beautiful and exciting than when I looked with tunnel vision, and I'm thankful.