Some years ago, I took on the job of mathematics lecturer at a further education college. On my first day at the job, I arrived in the staff room and sat at my desk next to a large, framed picture. My colleagues noticed that I could not resist staring at the off-white, framed print covered with what looked like a matrix of dots. It was a stereogram.
A Stereogram is an optical illusion of depth created from a 2D image, designed to create the visual illusion of a three-dimensional (3D) scene from a two-dimensional image.
“What do you see on the canvas?” asked my colleague.
I responded, “A matrix of dots on a white canvas.”
There was some laughter, followed by a flurry of suggestions: look closer, focus in the middle, try crossing your eyes, it’s a stereogram. None of the suggestions were helpful. Have you ever tried helping someone else to view a stereogram and sensed the frustration you both experience?
On the second day in the office, I still could not see the hidden image. Days became weeks, weeks became months and months became years, and I still could not see.
One day, five years after I walked into the staff room for the first time, I took one deep look at the stereogram, and suddenly I could see! It was a fine, life-like Statue of Liberty; you could almost reach into the frame and lift it up. I screamed out with excitement: “I can see!”
So, what did I learn from that experience? I would suggest two things:
1. Patience
2. To adjust my focus.
This experience reminds me of a text in my favourite literature:
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. [NKJV Bible; James 1: 2-5]
When I was growing up at home with my father, there were times when things got very tough, and it seemed as though there was no way out. My father would invite me to look up at the sky, and he would ask, “Obi, my son, what can you see?” I would respond, “I can see the cloud passing from the West to the East.”
Then, my dad would say, “Son, this cloud you see today is passing by. Another cloud may come afterward, but this one you now see will pass away, never to return. So will it be with the problems you are faced with today. Be patient and exercise some hope. The Cloud will soon pass by, and the sky will be clear again.”
This season of COVID-19 will pass away, and though we are struggling to see the picture embedded in it right now, one day we will see. May I suggest that our greatest need is patience and an adjustment to our present focus? Soon we will exclaim, “Now we can see!” Just hold on a while longer.
Whilst we wait, if we can help you to adjust in these difficult times, please contact me, Pastor Obi Iheoma, Seventh day Adventist Christian Chaplain. Or contact any of the Chaplains at the Chaplaincy. We will be happy to help.
Pastor Obi Iheoma - Seventh day Adventist Christian Chaplain, 15 June 2020