Magic Eye

Do you remember magic eye pictures? Let me give you a little glimpse into the ’90s... 

There were these huge pictures that hung on the wall and we would all stare at them. From a far distance, they just looked like patterned images. But if you got close, and put your eyes on them in a certain way, and then walked backward, all of a sudden an entirely different picture would come into view. We would stare at them for hours trying to see what the other could see. 

We had one in our basement and I remember we would have friends over and they would ask, how do you see it? 

For some, it came right away. They’d seen magic eye pictures before. 

But for others, it took longer. Some pictures were harder to see than others. 

We would all stand there and try to help the person that couldn’t see what we could see. We’d say, “Focus right here. Now back up. As you walk, let your eyes slowly focus out.” And then, all of a sudden, like an animal jumping out at you, you would see it! The images would literally jump off the page! And when they saw it, we would all exclaim!

It was one of those things that once you’d seen it, you always knew there was something more there. You could never go back to thinking it was just a patterned scene. But if you walked by and lost sight of the big picture that was hiding in there, you’d know how to find it again, because you’d done it before. You could back up, do the routine, and see it again. You’d always know now that there was more there.

I feel like this is the place we’re at in our country. 

Some of us are looking at a picture and starting to see it totally differently than we ever have before. There are images popping out at us that we’ve never seen before. And although that picture may have been on our walls for 30 years or 200 years, it’s not until someone comes alongside us and shows us how to see it differently, that the picture starts to take a different shape. 

No matter how hard you try, you can't see these pictures, if you don't know how. And I've never seen one by someone just telling me what they see. But when someone comes alongside me that can see it clearly and tells me where to look to see what they do, at some point, it always jumps out at me.

For some right now, we’re seeing something in a picture that we’ve walked by a million times and never seen before. For others, it’s just a patterned image on a wall and they don't believe there is anything more there. And for others, they aren’t concerned with seeing the giant picture that so many in our country are looking at right now. 

I don’t have all the answers. I just know the only way I’ve ever been able to see a magic picture I can't see, is to have someone walk alongside me. 

 PS. This one says "Carpe Diem..."  

Thanks to https://bit.ly/3gZZT4j for the image and reminding me of high school