Yesterday I mentioned the book Everyday Sacred: A Woman's Journey Home by Sue Bender. I just read something in it today that reminded me of a new twist on an old cliche that I'd heard years ago.
Bender wrote, "If you believe, you begin to look. And you begin to see what has been there all the time."
Years ago I heard an Episcopal priest take the cliche "Seeing is believing" and turn it around. He preached on the theme "Believing is seeing."
That's exactly what Bender seems to be saying. Once you believe something, you can see things you might have missed before. Or when you believe something, that belief affects how you see things.
For example, if you believe that people are intrinsically good, you will see a person that way (until proven wrong) and undoubtedly draw out the best in that person. You have heard stories about young children whose teachers thought them incapable of learning much. Of course, the students lived up to the expectations, right? Then along came a teacher who believed in the student. And suddenly, things changed. The child blossomed and grew.
What in your life could be changed today if you adjusted your belief about something?
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