A Matter of Perception

People judge us by our dress, our accent, our demeanor, and even our facial expressions. Sometimes they happen to be right—but not always.

Many times, we are wrongly judged. Such was the case with me.

One day, I was working happily and energetically in my yard on a big landscaping project—hoeing and raking. Suddenly, a truck stopped, and while the driver greeted me courteously, his companion smiled. “This is a nice place. Are you the caretaker?” “No,” I replied. “I am the owner.” Was it because I wore scrubby clothes, or was my complexion the reason they perceived me as the caretaker? “We just got done cleaning a house up the road,” he continued.

After the exchange of a few pleasant words, they departed.

I guess that settings can also help form perceptions.

As I sat quietly in the Valley View University Library in Ghana, I was flooded with nostalgic memories of my days as a young university student in the Caribbean.

Before the end of my library session, one of the library assistants came up to me and asked if I was a visiting professor. The same question was posed to me later when I joined an interactive session of young students. They had been asked to share their views on what the Seventh-day Adventist Church could do to spread the health message more effectively.

All this makes me think—how do people perceive us as they meet us on the thoroughfares of life? Do they see Christ Jesus reflected in us? Or do our speech, dress, and the way we express our tastes so resemble the world that they can see no difference between their ways and ours? How do colleagues, friends, and neighbors truly perceive you and me? Man may look at the outward appearance and judge us, but God sees our hearts.

May our hearts reflect His loveliness more with each passing day.

Hyacinth V. Caleb