Technology is changing faster than many can adapt and learn from the previous iteration. Having a camera literally at our fingertips almost constantly in a small and convenient form is fabulous. The picture quality has improved tremendously since the first cell phone camera. The newest models have four lenses that allow the user different zoom capabilities and perspectives for framing their pictures. A wonder of technology that still needs input from people to provide humanity to any image it captures.
What lens do you use to look at life? Like a camera, we have interchangeable lenses, but we change ours depending on the day, week, or circumstance. Nature or nurture can influence the lens we use to view our world. There is so much that shapes and molds our perspective of the world.
Like a camera, you can adjust your view of the world: customize the lighting, zoom in for a closer look, change the lens to a wide-angle so you see a larger or broader picture (you can purchase lenses that attach to your cell phone camera lens that perform many of the same functions that digital cameras do). While the lens on the camera can perform telephoto and panoramic functions greater than our eyes, there are lens cameras don’t have: minds, hearts, and souls.
I’m not the same person I was when I graduated high school; I’m not the same person I was when my children graduated high school, or even three years ago. I’ve grown in many ways. I’ve matured; I’ve been broken and restored, strengthened by trials, and I’ve had joy. The cycle repeats. Through all of the changes in my life, so has the lens through which I view life changed—I’m very thankful it has. Life experiences cause our view to adjust, but I control whether it’s more colorful or black and white. I can control whether it’s bright or dark. I do control these aspects so the pictures and videos of my life—I hope—reflect one of strength, peace, joy, and beauty. A life where sometimes the lens is skewed and not perfect (because life isn’t perfect and who really wants perfection), but it makes people smile. (Matthew 6:21)
How you view the world, regardless of what is going on around you, is your choice. Change the lens. Use your view to grow; help yourself and others. You’re not creating a fantasy world or wearing rose-colored glasses. You’re just not allowing the difficulties to define you. No, it’s not easy. You can change the lens.
May 24, 2025
