A View of Life From the Raspberry Patch
by John Juneau
At this time we are gathering stories. Want to submit something? Send to the_encourager.geo.@yahoo.com. We also have a few stories in our Spiritual Peak section.
In the early summer time the raspberries in my yard begin to ripen. Raspberries are very nice. Unlike some fruits that ripen "all at once" and must be picked quickly, leaving you with a huge supply that must be eaten, frozen, or something, raspberries ripen a few at a time over a period of several weeks. It is easy to tell when they are ripe, and when they are, they pull off the plant leaving the core behind. So, all-in-all, raspberries should be easy pick'n, right? Well they are; except for one little thing.
The raspberries in my yard are arranged very neatly so that I can get on both sides of each plant and reach every berry with a minimum of scratches incurred in the process. So I pick a spot and start looking for ripe berries. I spot them easily and pick and pick and pick. Once I am sure that I have picked every ripe berry, I move to a new spot. When I am done there, I move on and keep picking. Eventually I end up on the other side of the row of bushes. Now here is the interesting thing. As soon as I get settled into picking on the other side of the bush, I start noticing ripe berries on the first side that I missed. I was so sure I had found every ripe berry, but I hadn't. Looking through the stalks and leaves from my new vantage point, I discover what I did not see before. I see things from this distance that I did not see when I was closer.
And that reminds me of life. Life is like that. We consider some situation, looking carefully and honestly, checking out all the angles, until we are sure we see things clearly. Then we come to a conclusion and state an opinion. It might be some big social issue like abortion or drug use. It might be some personal issue like whether or not you should go the dance Friday night, whether you should go on a date with a certain guy, whether you should spread tell a story your heard about someone at school, or whatever. Having honestly thought about it you make a decision. Then you find someone; a friend, teacher, or parent perhaps, who comes to a totally different conclusion than you have. You just don't understand it. Why thought it all through. You considered all the facts. You are sure you didn't miss anything. You know you are right!
Well, maybe you just need to look at it from a different vantage point. You need, in a sense, to move to the other side of the bush. From a different position, and maybe a little distance or time, you may be surprised at what you see now that you missed before. That is one of the reason why parents, teachers, even friends, sometimes see things so differently than you do.
Of course to be fair, I would also suggest that the other person may need to consider slightly different vantage points as well. I have no doubt that, as a parent to six daughters, there were times I was so sure my decision was right but in fact may have changed my mind if I could have seen what they saw.
So, what to do. First, be patient with the other person. Second,
try to see things from that person's perspective. Third, in a
non-argumentative manner, ask the other person to consider how
things look from your perspective. You may change your mind. They
may change their mind. Or you may continue to disagree. But if
you have taken a careful look from the other side, at least you
will be a little more certain you didn't miss something.
Also, you may want to check out the Poetry page.
Come again soon. See 'ya later.
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This page last modified on 08/01/99