I’ve just had new specs- and the process worked perfectly. There was one time when one lens was convex and the other concave: trust me, the world looked seriously odd! Those glasses had to be remade properly.
You may be thinking I took this photo of London’s Shard and River Thames through wrong glasses. It’s strange and distorted, even disturbing.
I did that on purpose. Photography is fun- and digital files can be edited easily with computers to make striking images out of ordinary subjects. Note: I said “striking” images, not necessarily ones you’d want to hang in the hall.
Distortion happens in many ways- some deliberate, some by accident, others by incompetence. We all think we see the world “the right way” but our ideal world is shaped by many influences in our background, education and experiences. Others see things very differently, which is why people sometimes clash.
Art and literature distort on purpose. Think Picasso, or Dali… or the gentler fictional existence of Bertie Wooster. Young Bertie represents an upper-class drone in English society of the Edwardian era. An amiable English gentleman and one of the “idle rich”, Bertie appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intelligence manages to save Bertie or one of his friends from numerous awkward situations. Bertie Wooster and Jeeves have been described as “one of the great comic double-acts of all time”. (Sam Leith, in the Telegraph, 2007)
I’d like a Jeeves.
Someone to sort out any problems, make my path smooth, and generally allow me to avoid all responsibility. Sounds wonderful. I think so, anyway…
It would be a distortion of real life. I suspect it wouldn’t work, but it isn’t unknown for humans to look for a “Jeeves solution” through religion. Christianity is far from immune from this! When we view Jesus as a personal servant or genie whose duty is to fulfil OUR wishes, we’re entering the realm of distortion of truth and faith.
Jesus or Jeeves.
Even a swift read through the Gospels should help us see that the Jesus who invited people to “Follow Me” and even “Take up your cross and follow me” is not your best bet for a deity to make life easy and free of all problems.
Have a think about the last few times you prayed. How many of those requests/demands could have been finished “in the name of Jeeves, Amen!”
Jeeves would be my all-powerful servant.
Jesus is my Lord, my Saviour, my Life-Giver, my Hope- and I serve Him.
One of those two sentences is a grave distortion of reality. We need to think carefully before we start treating God as a bit of a convenience store, open all hours for our whims.
Distortion can be deadly dangerous!
Look, See, Pray 