Persistance of Vision

The multi-billion dollar international television and film industry would not be possible without an inherent developmental flaw found in the brain of every single human being, including you. I know that was a harsh way to tell you that you are inherently flawed but I thought you should know sooner or later.

This flaw is called the “persistence of vision” and causes our brain to mesh consecutive images together instead of seeing them separately as they really are. When our eyes transmit a signal to our brain, that image is held onto in our brains milliseconds longer than the actual signal is present. What that means is when we have two images presented before our eyes in a fast enough progression we will see the images as one fluid motion.

Our brain’s tendency to hold onto one image long enough to connect it to the proceeding image is what makes seeing motion possible. Without “persistence of vision,” life would be a huge collection of fragmented images that did not make any sense, which is kind of the way I feel about Pinterest. Persistence of vision is what makes life make sense. The problem is that vision does not always feel like persisting.

Vision, no matter how mind-blowing it used to be, is often the first thing we drop from our to-do list when life gets crazy.

When I move to a new season in life, does my vision carry over? Vision has to persist through transition or we will find ourselves incredibly busy with impossible to-do lists and no good reason to accomplish anything on them. Most of the time, the things we do to reach a vision often replace the vision itself. The more things you are doing the less likely you are to remember why you do them. Does your vision persist when your schedule changes?

When Moses was busy leading a nation and writing Leviticus he had to remember that time in the desert when he happened to come across a burning bush that changed his life. When David was hiding in a cave from a schizophrenic King or running from his long haired hippie son Absalom he had to remember the time when he was just a teenager and a guy named Samuel told him that God wanted him to become a great leader. When Paul was in between seasons of ministry he had to remember the time God knocked him off a donkey and literally blinded him with vision to keep him motivated at making tents when he desperately wanted to just preach.

I need to schedule times where I stop doing everything and start connecting the dots of my life. I need a time where I just stop and ask myself what I am doing and how I got to where I am. Where I am I going? If my life were a book, what would be the name of this chapter? Am I still aiming for the conclusion that the beginning of my walk with God foreshadowed? Are the things I used to daydream about anywhere close to my reality? I need to sit back and watch the movie that is my life thus far and make sure the ending is still one I would be proud of.

Call me Marty McFly because I am going back to the future. I am going back to a time when I knew Jesus could come back at any moment. I am going back to a time when I was more focused on where God was taking me than where I was currently. I want to go back to a time when I had vision and passion for the future and not just the dread of an early morning followed by a tiring day. Let’s get back to caring that God started something in a garden that He plans to continue until it’s completion in a Throne Room.

The Persistence of Vision creates motion. When vision carries over it spontaneously causes motion inside of us. Seeing the vision makes it easier to walk towards it. Suddenly you are finding time to do that one thing God has been asking you to do. Suddenly you are excited to wake up in the morning and keep pursuing the vision even if your life is boring and your to-do list is overwhelming. You are here for a reason that you used to know quite well. Remember it.