What Do You See?

What Do You See? When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around." (Mark 8:24) It is amazing how several people can witness the same event but give different accounts of it. Why are there discrepancies in what they saw? We often see what we expect to see. We often see what we can relate to. We often see what we are familiar with. We often see what is indigenous to the environment. Let's explain it through the above scripture. After Jesus spit on the man's eyes and put His hand on them, Jesus wanted to know what the man saw. What the man described was not accurate. He did see people. They were walking. But why did the man describe them as "looking like trees walking around"? It was customary for women (not men) to carry pails of water on their heads. From a distance and with blurred vision, they did look like trees walking around. And that's exactly what the man described. Many times we describe what we think we see. When we get closer to the situation and take a second look, often we find that our description is not accurate at all. If you are seeing people walking as trees, perhaps there is more than meets the eye!