Paradigms & Perception

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
—Wayne Dyer

"We think we see the world as it is, when in fact we see the world as we are.”
—Stephen R. Covey

My wife and I recently spent a quiet weekend away from the kids up in Island Park, Idaho. The lodge we stayed at is situated on a beautiful river swarming with a variety of wildlife. Toward the end of our trip, I stepped outside on the second-story deck that overlooked the river. The deck extended past several other rooms to my right where I was met by a couple pointing out across the river toward a group of pine trees. The husband exclaimed, “Over there. Look over there, we just saw a moose!” The wife was holding a pair of binoculars and they both seemed quite excited to see some of the larger wildlife in the area. I was thinking, “Cool, a moose” as I looked in the direction of the pines.

The couple eventually walked back into their room. As I glanced back, I noticed a small dark figure with black fur slowing moving through the trees and I decided to take a closer look. I had brought my drone out to the deck so I could get an aerial photo of the lodge. With the moose in mind, I launched the drone and headed in that direction.

Within a few moments, my drone flew up and over the small group of pines. I quickly spotted the dark shapes but was immediately perplexed. There was not just one, but 6-8 animals in a group. I had never seen that many moose in one group, ever. This is when it dawned on me that these were not moose at all, these were cows. I smiled and laughed, shaking my head and thinking, “Cows!”

I pondered this for a moment. Most of the vehicles in the parking area were from out of state. I’m guessing this couple was one of them. Here they find themselves up in the mountains and among the pines. They fully anticipate seeing some type of wildlife as they scan the river and horizon, especially given their prior planning to bring binoculars. When they discovered this large dark animal in the woods they had to come up with an explanation. They’ve brought with them all their past experiences to help explain what they are visualizing. The details may be a little fuzzy, but again, they do have binoculars and should have a fairly clear picture of what they are looking at. To this day they believe they saw a moose and may have even shared that experience with friends and family.

How often do we see, hear, or learn something that is a false interpretation? How often does the environment we place ourselves in dictate anticipated outcomes? What happens when we are presented with new information and are tasked with compartmentalizing it? How often are we shown more correct detail, yet choose to ignore it due to existing biases?

Let’s take this a step further. Was this couple lying to me by telling me they had seen a moose? As I chose to further inspect the large dark animal it became readily apparent that this was not moose. The truth is that they had seen a cow. A delicious beef cow btw. It is not that they were lying so much as they were ignorant of the truth. With their current paradigms and beliefs, they could only see a moose.

Consider the environments you currently find yourself in: work, family, church, school, friendships, etc. How often do these environments blind us to the truth? How often are we left grasping for some sort of explanation, when the reality is either too common or too uncomfortable?

Shalom

Update / 3.27.24
One of the few ways to change our perspective is to be willing to question what we believe to be true, or what we think is reality. One of the best ways to do that is to have a broken heart and contrite spirit (i.e., to be humble, penitent, and teachable), willing to be taught by God through the Spirit. 

The ability to see things with new eyes, with new perspective, will change your paradigms. As those paradigms shift, you are then brought to higher planes of understanding, and quite literally a higher state of existence or vibration. 

Joseph Smith said in the King Follett Sermon, “Knowledge saves a man; and in the world of spirits no man can be exalted but by knowledge. So long as a man will not give heed to the commandments, he must abide without salvation. If a man has knowledge, he can be saved.”

This is one of the great lessons learned from the story of Adam and Eve, they emerged from a state of innocence, and also ignorance, to a place of learning, where they began to understand the good from the evil. Their story is our story.

We are not stationary beings, we are either progressing or regressing, and seldom are we simply existing. The knowledge and understanding we gain create who we are. Per the Law of Mentalism, all things are first created in the mind before they are manifest physically. And that does not simply mean physical things, but all action. Faith or action is driven by the mind which is how we perceive our existence.

In the mind is where the “magic” of spiritual creation begins and is where all of creation began; God thought the universe into existence.

Disclaimer: Only a small portion of my thoughts and feelings are contained within this essay. It is nearly impossible to condense a lifetime of study, thoughts, and impressions, into a few paragraphs. I value and encourage the need for altering perspective as new light and knowledge is acquired. One of the best ways to know a person’s heart is to sit down and talk face-to-face, perhaps while consuming a mild barley drink.