Color Blind

     I am wearing a blue shirt. If you say it is blue, you are right. Yet, if someone else says, "no, it's more like a light blue", then he would be right too. They disagree (in terms of hairsplitting), but they're both right. Both are accurate descriptions of my shirt. If a third fellow comes along (and I really do hope I never have this much discussion over the color of my garments) and claims that the first two are off and that the shirt is actually 'baby blue', well, he would be right too. (Just so we're clear, I am wearing a Pittsburgh Penguins shirt with the alternate 'baby blue' otherwise, I do not wear baby blue).

    Now, none of these are quite aligned with each other, but they're all right. No one would really argue one shade of blue over the other. Yet, if a fourth fellow came along and called it grey, that would be wrong. They would probably think the following things about him:

• He's probably not serious

• He probably never learned what colors are

• He might be color blind

• He might be stupid

• He probably doesn't hang around too many civil war reenactments

• He might not appreciate his shortcomings being illustrated in bullet format

    There will be a time when the 3 fellows attempt to explain blue to him. They will use examples and use different colors and ask different questions (assuming they're trying to determine his point of view). There will also be a time when they run out of ways of explaining blue. It's not a philosophical or logical debate, it just is the way it is.

   So, let's say he is serious, isn't stupid and has been to many civil war reenactments (and even has his own collection of hats and flattened pennies - you know the kind, you put a penny and a quarter into a machine, turn some wheels, get a flattened penny back and never see the quarter again - MAGIC!). Good for him.

But not good; because he is trying to say that blue is grey. How much effort do these men put into setting him right? Do they go mad trying to help a madman? Do they call him stupid and in need of education and risk his emotions sending him sulking away? Do they consider his 'feelings' and just "agree to disagree"? Do they try to determine if he is color blind or otherwise somehow never knew which colors were called what? Do they end the conversation there and move on? There are only so many ways to say something before getting to simply repeating the same thing over and over. Calling people stupid or ignorant (coincidentally, both ignorant and stupid people use the terms "stupid" and "ignorant" interchangeably) doesn't really turn people over to your side of the argument. And it is very easy to call someone as such without even using those specific words. The thing to remember is to "Speak the Truth in Love" and "Bear with one another's weaknesses".

Mark 4 : 9   "And he said, "Whoever has ears to hear had better listen!""