Love is blind
Although I have never watched “Love is blind”, some of my friends and colleagues have. They were fascinated by this new experiment of people dating in their separate pods where they can talk to each other but not see them.
In the show, people decide to get engaged before seeing each other for the first time. The participants are given an opportunity to get to know each other for who they truly are without physical influences.
The concept of getting to know someone without seeing them is almost unheard of. We meet our friends face-to-face. We operate by being in community and being with each other, in person.
Even when we faced physical separation during the Covid-19 lockdown, we met. Our easy access to technology resulted in numerous video calls with friends, university Zoom meetings, and online broadcasting for church services. We still saw each other.
I think back to times when I would email an event coordinator back and forth before finally meeting them or receiving a phone call about a job interview. We see their words, or we hear their voice, but our minds are actively searching for an image.
“What do they look like?” we wonder.
And so, we immediately look them up on Google or Facebook. If we find a photo of them, we decide whether we like them, whether we'll connect, or whether they're too different from our personality. But if we can't find one, we instantly make the same judgments when we meet them face-to-face for the first time.
Our minds create an image based on our preconceptions about the physical.
A blindfolded encounter
You arrive at a cafe and are about to meet someone for the very first time. You sit down, and you place a blindfold on as you await their arrival. All you can see is darkness and you are forced to listen.
You listen for their footsteps arriving and greet them excitedly.
And as you engage in the conversation,
You listen to their voice.
You hear their tone and not their facial expressions.
You hear their words and not the colour of their clothes.
You hear their pauses and not your rushing thoughts.
Your mind simply creates an image based on what you have heard.
Lenses of love
God calls us to love one another, our neighbours, and our nation. In our multi-cultural society, we come from different countries and different homes. We all have different gifts and different strengths. And it is so easy to make judgments on a person based on their name, their job title, and their physical appearance.
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (1 John chapter 4, verses 10-11)
Jesus demonstrated this sacrificial love. A love that calls us to love beyond the familiar. Love to bring peace and unity, and love to make God known.
I am deeply challenged to love this way. I don't want to see the darkness that comes with a physical blindfold. I am desperate to wear a blindfold where I hear the tone, words, and pauses of anyone I am in conversation with.
Beyond that, I want to wear lenses where I am transformed by God's love to see as He sees. I long to see each individual face-to-face as they truly are – created uniquely in the image of God, beautiful, and deeply loved.
Lenses of love.
I want my mind to create an image based on the truth and love of God, intertwined with each person's individuality.
Stephanie enjoys simple living, admiring nature’s beauty and intricacy, and playing the piano. She is particularly passionate about empowering the vulnerable. Writing is her way of processing thoughts and feelings to understand herself, God and the world in a deeper and more meaningful way.
